The most prolific dad is 33-year-old Desmond Hatchett, of Knoxville, who has 30 children by at least 11 different women. Last month, he asked for the courts to give him a break from paying for them.
Virile: Desmond Hatchett, left, has 30 children by at least 11 women while Terry Turnage, right, has 23 children by 17 women. They are both trying to get their child support payments lowered
Camera shy: Richard A. Colbert, who would not allow his picture to be taken, said he does not have to pay for his 25 children by 18 different women as they are all adults
Three men in Tennessee have notched up a staggering 78 children by 46 different women between them – and are doing their best to squirm out of paying for a single one.
Terry Turnage has 23 children with 17 different women, while Richard M. Colbert has 25 children with 18 women. But Desmond Hatchett takes the record with 30 children with 11 women.
On rare occasions, they pay a few dollars to the long-suffering mothers but mostly leave the state to pick up the slack – while one eludes his responsibilities altogether thanks to a stint in prison.
The latest deadbeat dad to emerge from the state is Turnage, who was summoned before a judge over child support payments for his 23 kids by 17 different women – but didn’t show up to court.
One of the mothers, who had spent nearly eight years with Turnage, said her knees buckled when a prosecutor told her that the father of her child had 20 other children.
‘During the whole relationship, I only knew of four children,’ Latoya Shields told WREG. ‘At that time, three years ago, my child was the 21st child. Yeah, that would be overwhelming for anybody.’
Last month, Turnage filed a petition at Shelby County Juvenile Court to lower his child support payments for the mothers of his children – but never turned up to the hearing.
Shields said the virile dad has shown little interest in his daughter. ‘She calls him and it’s a “hi” and “bye, see you later” type of situation,’ she said.
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