WorldNetDaily, 11 May 2008
A northern Kentucky man is in jail today – serving a 180-day
sentence because his 18-year-old daughter failed a math test
and didn't get her General Equivalency Diploma, or GED, as
a previous court order required.
Brittany Gegner, the daughter, says if anyone should be jailed,
it should be her.
"It's like I should, if anybody should be punished for this,"
Brittany toldWCPO-TV in Cincinnati. "I would way rather me go
to jail than my dad."
Even Brian Gegner's ex-wife agrees the judge's decision is absurd.
"They probably should have punished me if they were going to
punish anybody," said Brittany's mother Shana Roach. "Because
she did live with meat the time, but because he had the custody,
that's why he's being punished. But I don't understand the
punishment altogether because she's going to school, she's been
going for four months. The only thing that's holding her back is
she can't pass her math test."
Butler County Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered
Gegner to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor
by not following a court order which required Gegner to be
sure his daughter got her GED.
"It's ridiculously wrong," said Brittany.
"Of all the punishments they could have given him, to make him
go to jail?" she asked. "I mean, probation until I get my GED,
would be reasonable, but to send him to jail? That's overboard."
The problems began when Brittany was 16 and started skipping
classes at Fairfield High School and then, Butler Tech.
Though Brian Gegner had custody of her, Brittany says it was
while she lived with her mother that she was truant.
"I'm about to be 19 and my dad's being punished for something
I did when I was 16," she said.
Brittany has a daughter who's about 18-months-old. She says
she's determined to pass the GED for her daughter – and her
father.
The judge says if she passes the test, her father could get out
of jail before his six-months sentence is up.
Brittany's stepmother worries the time in jail will ruin their family.
She says he could lose the job he's worked for 15 years.
"I never dreamed they would put him in jail for this – for six
months – it's crazy," said Stephanie Gegner, Brittany's stepmother.
"He has no control over what his adult daughter does," she said.
"He just doesn't."
Court administrators say that even though Brittany is an adult
now, the case remains active in their court because she was a
juvenile when the problems started.
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