[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
FWD: Peter May: Antoine Walker's Child Support Trouble?
Lockout or no lockout, Antoine's always good for an interesting
article or two!
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
Walker's lawyer denies report
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 09/19/98
This hasn't been the rosiest of offseasons for Antoine Walker. The
Celtics forward has sparred with his coach, been named as a defendant
in a federal civil suit, and will find himself as a defendant in the public
eye tomorrow night.
ABC's ''20/20'' will report on Walker in a segment on NBA players who father
children out of wedlock. Walker has a 4-year-old daughter, Crystal; he is no
longer involved with the child's mother, Margaret Johnson.
According to a press release from the network, Johnson says she received
little child support until recently and had to live on welfare even when
Walker was drawing a seven-figure paycheck from the Celtics. ABC refused to
provide any more information.
Walker declined to be interviewed for the piece, according to Michael Higgins
of FAME, the agency that represents him, and efforts by the Globe to reach
Walker yesterday were unsuccessful. Higgins said Walker will decide how to
respond to the piece after it is aired.
''It's too bad, because Antoine is one of the good guys in this,'' he said.
''They had the story done and they wanted to rip him. It's totally unfair.''
According to Higgins, Walker purchased a home for Johnson, but the woman
declined to move. Johnson lives close to Walker's mother, Diane, in Chicago,
Higgins said.
''Diane has practically raised both Crystal and the mother,'' Higgins said.
Walker's Chicago-based attorney, Doreen Marcus, said Walker was responsible
for initiating the proceedings resulting in both the establishment of
paternity and the amount paid in child support. ''He has been open and
generous,'' she said.
There are two unresolved issues, according to Marcus. One concerns Walker's
visitation schedule over the summer. The other is whether Walker owes child
support dating back to Crystal's birth in May 1994. He was drafted by the
Celtics in June 1996.
According to court documents, Walker pays $2,500 a month in child support, an
amount established by the court, effective July 1. He estimated his yearly
income to be around $2 million. Marcus said Walker has offered to pay more
than the court-ordered amount. Prior to July 1, he paid $2,000 a month,
according to court documents.
Johnson's lawyer, Sherry Faulkner, did not return calls left at her office.
Johnson did not return a call to her south Chicago home.
Regarding the welfare charge, Higgins said Walker was in no position to pay
child support for the first two years of Crystal's life because he was at the
University of Kentucky. He said Walker has been more than generous with child
support since turning pro.
In a related development, Johnson has gone to court in Chicago with a
complaint against Diane Walker, seeking a protection order against her. She
alleges in the complaint that Diane Walker has threatened and harassed her and
has at times taken poor care of the child. That case was assigned to a judge
last week, and a hearing is scheduled for Oct 9.
Regarding the civil suit, Walker, Ron Mercer, Chauncey Billups, and a friend
of Walker's were named as defendants in a case filed in May. The case,
believed to concern an allegation of sexual assault at Walker's townhouse in
Waltham almost a year ago, has been impounded, and attorneys for the
defendants have filed motions to dimiss. One of the lawyers said yesterday
that the case is plodding along with ''procedural motions'' and may well go to
trial. Police have investigated the incident, but no charges have been filed.
Walker also got into some hot water with his coach in a battle of words this
summer in the Globe. Rick Pitino said he was disappointed Walker did not
attend a voluntary pre-lockout workout at Brandeis in June. Walker responded a
few weeks later that ''veteran All-Stars'' like himself never stoop to such
things and that Pitino's remarks were uncalled for.
Michael Holley of the Globe Staff contributed to this report; correspondent
Stephen Siegel contributed from Chicago.
This story ran on page G02 of the Boston Globe on 09/19/98.
© Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
--------------787C5E427E2--
------------------------------------------------------------