Oregon Has Difficulty Obtaining Child Care Debt
A spokesman for the Oregon attorney general’s office said that state may have a hard time collecting money owed by the Ecclesia Athletic Assn.
Members of the controversial religious group that was founded in Los Angeles owe the state more than $30,000 for care for children of the group, officials have said.
The state took 53 Ecclesia children into custody in 1988 after the beating death of Dayna L. Broussard, 8-year-old daughter of group founder Eldridge Broussard Jr. Four group members were convicted in the death.
A judge ruled in June that the parents must pay for the care.
Phil Lemman of the attorney general’s office said last week that the state is keeping tabs on their employment status. The group has formed a construction company, Troy’s Construction, and is trying to buy property in Portland, Ore. Lemman said it might be difficult to force the firm to comply with orders that it withhold wages to meet the state payments.
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