Incarceration Does Not Stop Child Support Obligation
In Maryland, Koummane Virasith is incarcerated at the St. Mary's County Detention Center, accused of attempting to kill his estranged wife and murdering her boyfriend on April 10. Virasith and his estranged wife have three children together and the court has ruled that he must continue making child support payments while he is behind bars.
Melissa Virasith had filed two domestic violence complaints against Koummane Virasith before the shooting that seriously injured her and killed Thomas John Saunders. The Virasiths had been separated since 2006 and Koummane was ordered to pay Melissa $400 per month in child support.
In late June, Melissa Virasith wrote to the court, explaining that since she was seriously injured in the shooting and still recovering that it was essential that she continue to receive the child support payments for the wellbeing of her family. She stated that she does not have any income and will not be able to work for some time because of her injuries. She told the court that she did not wish to modify the child support agreement that she and Koummane Virasith had entered into because she felt that he was still responsible for the support of their three sons.
Melissa Virasith says that she is currently a paraplegic because of the injuries she sustained in the shooting and is undergoing therapy at a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Koummane Virasith wrote his own letter to the court, dated little more than a week after the shootings. In his letter, Koummane wrote that while he was gainfully employed, he had always paid the child support payments on time but that it is impossible for him to pay the obligation while he is incarcerated.
Circuit Court Master F. Michael Harris decided to uphold the child support agreement and enforce the current order that has been in effect since October 2007. According to a report by Southern Maryland Online, Harris also found that Koummane Virasith had himself incarcerated in order to avoid making the child support payments to Melissa Virasith.
Koummane Virasith will go on trial for the murder of Saunders and the shooting of Melissa Virasith in September. The prosecution will seek a term of life imprisonment against him and will possibly file motions calling for him to be imprisoned without the possibility of parole.
If Koummane Virasith is found guilty of the shootings and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Harris' ruling on enforcement of the child support order is basically useless.
However, if Koummane is acquitted or released from prison at some time in the future after serving a sentence, he will then be subject to prosecution for the past due child support payments. He has not yet been convicted of a crime, yet is being set up by Harris' ruling to violate the court order and open himself up for future prosecution.
