Mother Kept Real Father a Secret (Full Episode) | Paternity Court

Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello.

This is the case of Owens/Rowe v. Raynes. Thank you, Jerome.

Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms.

Owens, you say that after a whirlwind teenage romance and a brief marriage to Mr Raynes, he got you pregnant and then left you high and dry to raise your daughter Jaime on your own. You say the defendant is fully aware he is your daughter's father. And you intend to prove this today.

Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr Raynes, you say there is no way you fathered Ms.

Owens' child, as you were separated and living in another county when she conceived. You say Ms. Owens has named you as the father in order to save face in front of her daughter.

Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms.

Owens, why would he leave you when you were pregnant? Because he was a lying, cheating, piece of trash. JUDGE LAKE: Oh.

Say how you really feel. (LAUGHING) Um. .

. Explain. I was actually two to three weeks pregnant when I went back to live with my parents when he left me.

This is after him and two of his friends had come home about 1:00 in the morning with three girls. And expected me to think they were just friends. Um, I don't know about that.

Uh, yes. So you thought your husband was cheating? OWENS: Exactly.

Were you cheating, Mr Raynes? Maybe. (LAUGHING) I was young back in those days.

We were off and on. We were young. Off and on.

Off and on. She got pregnant initially and I married her because I was trying to do the right thing. She wound up having a miscarriage.

Again after that, off and on, off and on, off and on. I got tired of it. It got old.

And so, uh, she always wanted to go back home so I let her go back home. About three to four months, I got a letter from her and that saying that she's pregnant. And I'm like, "I'm sorry, I hate your luck.

"You know, I'm not with you. "Haven't been with you. " So where do.

. . Did you have any happy times?

We had a few, not many. (LAUGHS) Okay. About the only time we really did have any connection was in bed.

All right, I'm getting all the facts, Jerome. Yeah. (LAUGHING) I'm getting all the facts.

This is what I need. All right, so you felt like your husband was cheating. I have to ask you, were you cheating too?

No, ma'am, I sure wasn't. I don't know about that. What makes you think she was cheating, Mr Raynes?

She went home awful lot. It's just hard to believe, for me to believe that she was not cheating. I mean, again here we are at court today, over a child that's 27 years old and the timeline doesn't add up.

Twenty-six. Soon to be 27. JUDGE LAKE: So wait a minute, you're saying the timeline doesn't add up in terms of when Miss Rowe was conceived?

Exactly. Is that the calendar you submitted to the court? Yes.

All right. Please, step up to the plasma. I'd like you to explain.

RAYNES: All right, Jaime was born July 31st, all right? One, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight. This is when Clara says she's pregnant.

No, I got pregnant in October. This is when she says. .

. I left in August. Is when I left.

I was no longer. . .

We broke up, I was no longer with her in August. Is your birthday July 31st, Miss Rowe? Yes, Your Honor.

But, Ms. Owens, you don't agree with this timeline. OWENS: No, I do not.

I come home in October. He dropped me off at my parents, and told them, "Do something with her. "I cannot.

" That could've possibly been true. I mean, you were something to deal with. But what I'm saying is, if.

. . If you hadn't been such a piece of crap, I wouldn't have been so hard to get along with.

Maybe, maybe not. Now, hold on, but I wanna understand this because, Mr Raynes, if you are saying that it could be true that if. .

. That she was with you in October and you brought her back to her parents and said, do something with her. If that was October, that's during the window of conception.

I was gone in October. OWENS: No, you are not. I know this for a fact that I was gone in October.

He was not. All right, sir, you may step back down to the podium. Ms.

Owens, you say you know for a fact he was not gone then. How do you know that for a fact? Because that's when I got pregnant.

I got a letter from him, Your Honor, when I was seven months pregnant, out to here. And he said, "You are not pregnant, it's all in your head. "If you are pregnant, "it is not mine.

"Do not give that baby "my last name, "and do not put me on the birth certificate. " It's exactly what it said. As a mother, that's something you never forget.

I wanted my daughter to have a father like I had growing up. She did not have that. She had my father to help me raise her.

It's not fair. He has never ever done anything for her. Wow.

RAYNES: Wow. JUDGE LAKE: And so when you gave birth, did you ask him to be there? Did you say, "I'm having the baby.

Do you wanna come to the hospital? " Or, "You should come, you're welcome. " Nope.

No. I did not want him around. I loved him so much when we got together that I would've done anything for him.

And that love turned to pure hate. And I hated him as much as I loved him. And the truth is, is hate really is just another form of love.

When you hate somebody, the other side of that is 'cause you love them so much. I always tell people, when you're really done with somebody that's indifference. And I have never loved anybody like that again.

JUDGE LAKE: At what point does Mr Raynes re-enter Jaime's life? I actually took her to see him when she was two weeks old. JUDGE LAKE: And when you saw her what did you.

. . I mean, there was still doubt.

You know, there was still doubt. There's always been doubt. And did you put him on the birth certificate, Ms.

Owens? No, ma'am, I did not. You didn't?

No. And at that time, he was your husband. Correct, in the state of Kentucky you do not have to put the child's father on the birth certificate.

And in the state of Kentucky, you could give the child any last name you wanted. Since he did not want her to have his last name, Your Honor, I gave her my last name. I have documents.

I'd like to see that. Jerome, will you please hand me that evidence? Yeah, my understanding, Your Honor, when she done this whole name thing, I had family there, and she told them that we had been separated over 10 months.

And being that, over 10 months, the baby, she's not mine. So she gave her maiden name and put father unknown on the birth certificate. It did not say father unknown.

JUDGE LAKE: So this is a birth certificate you have presented. This is a birth certificate. And this is the birth certificate for Jaime Corenda Owens.

And the baby was born to Clara Dean Owens. RAYNES:No father's name on it. JUDGE LAKE:And there is no father listed on this birth certificate.

OWENS: Exactly. Now, what's interesting is in most states, when you are married, the husband is presumed to be the legal father. That's right, 'cause child support came to me.

I get a letter. . .

By child support. . .

It was not. . .

I could have cared less if I had got any child support from him. So did you pay? Or did you prove?

I paid, I took responsibility of her. I. .

. You know I have family saying, "She looks like you. " I don't know.

I just thought I was doing the right thing, Your Honor. It was not easy with Ms. Clara to try to even see her or try to have a relationship with her.

Mr Raynes, hold on. This is. .

. It's even getting more confusing, because you are here in court today asserting that you are not Miss Rowe's biological father. That's her fault.

. . And yet throughout her life.

. . But, no, but throughout her life, you've spent time, money and energy trying to establish paternity.

I did. We wouldn't be here, Your Honor, if she had not started this. She tells Jaime that I'm not her dad.

Who did you think was your father growing up? I've had several people tell me all through my life that I didn't look like him. That he wasn't.

That there was. . .

The timeline was off. That there was this other guy that I was told. .

. Did your mother ever tell you? Yeah, when I was 12.

I was gonna move with Mr Raynes and she told me that she was with someone else, that they were broke up. And I let it go because I thought maybe she just don't want me living with him. Okay, well, I get told by Mr Raynes six months ago that he didn't know if I was even his daughter or not.

Ms. Owens, you have not testified to that yet. In everything that you've said thus far in this courtroom, you left out that one very important conversation.

So you did tell her that someone else could be her biological father. I said there's a possibility I was already pregnant and did not know it. No, you did.

Okay, whatever. She was due the 18th of July. JUDGE LAKE: But, if we.

. . Hold on.

Hold on. I want to go back to this calendar 'cause now I'm getting some more information. So, when Mr Raynes counted back he says, you would have had to get pregnant in October.

You then said, "It was when I went home. " So the point is, what you're saying is that's the same window of time when you were with this other man. OWENS: Three weeks later.

JUDGE LAKE: Three weeks later. Doesn't matter. Three weeks, one day, you was with somebody else.

There's doubt. I was not with you, Mr Raynes. I did not cheat on you like you did me.

Listen, listen. I want to make it clear. We're establishing a window of conception because that is related to your daughter's paternity.

That's why we're dealing with this. Your daughter is 26 years old with tears in her eyes. We're trying to get this answer for her.

And so you said that you had sex with the other man three weeks after you had had sex with Mr Raynes? OWENS: Correct. JUDGE LAKE: Okay.

Is this the first time you're really just being honest with yourself, truly without blocking this out? (GASPING) What are you feeling? That I wish she would have had a father to take care of her and loved her the way my father did me.

Can I say something here? JUDGE LAKE: What would you like to say? She keeps on saying, "Wish she'd had a father.

Wish she'd had a father. " I tried to be a father to Jaime. But it was a constant arguing with this woman.

I, uh. . .

Everything was about my daughter. Through my whole. .

. You know, through the whole time, raising her on my own, you know, um. .

. She had help. Yes, I did have help.

You had a lot of help. I had my parents and his mother. My parents.

What I don't understand is if you knew this information, you knew that Mr Raynes could be her biological father but there was another possibility. You didn't admit it to her until she was 12 and said I'm going to live with my daddy. That says to me, she wouldn't even have an option to go live with Mr Raynes unless he potentially was trying to be a part of her life.

I was trying to be part of her life. Was it your doubt or your hate that kept you from allowing your daughter to have a relationship with the man that potentially could be her biological father? It was actually both.

JUDGE LAKE: Right. That's what is becoming clear. Indirectly, you were using your daughter as a pawn.

. . That's right.

. . .

to get back at Mr Raynes. That's right. That's right.

So, Jaime how has it been growing up not knowing definitively who your father is? Um. .

. JUDGE LAKE: Take your time, honey. I know it's hard.

(SOBBING) Being told that somebody else was my father, that. . .

You know, I've seen what the other person looks like. I personally think I look like the other person. JUDGE LAKE: You do?

And then, six months ago, when the man you believed to be your father. . .

You think all this time that "This is my father but he's going in and out of my life. " Right. He pretty much affirms what your mother told you when you were 12.

Yeah, I mean, it shocked me for a minute that he actually came out and said it. And then I started wanting questions. .

. I started asking my mom questions. I started asking everybody questions.

And you deserve to ask those questions. RAYNES: She deserves it. Did you ever ask any questions of the other man?

Did you ever ask about him? I know of who he is. JUDGE LAKE: And you've seen his picture.

Yes. And when you saw his picture, you felt like. .

. I sat there for a long time comparing his picture with several different pictures of mine. And, I mean, I look more like him than his own kids look like him.

JUDGE LAKE: You believe that? Yes. It's time to alleviate that doubt.

And, it's time to get her the answer she deserves. Jerome, I'm ready for the results. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.

In the case of Owens/Rowe v. Raynes, when it comes to 26-year-old Jaime Rowe, it has been determined by this court, Mr Raynes, you are the father. You are her father.

I'm glad. I tried to be a father to her, Your Honor. I have.

I took responsibility when she was young. I fought with Clara, you know. My only regret is that I didn't fight more for her.

Can I hug her? JUDGE LAKE: Oh, that's great. Yes.

RAYNES: Now we can get on with life. This is a moment that is now been a weight lifted off of her. It wouldn't have made a difference if she had not have been mine She's still my daughter.

I still raised her, I still tried to take care of her. Still had tried to be a part of her life. But, Mr Raynes, let's be honest, it wouldn't have mattered to you and that's important.

But you could hear from her testimony that it mattered to her. Because she was the one dealing with the whispers. This is how our minds can create stories that aren't reality.

You know why? Because we don't have facts and we don't have information. And we don't have the truth.

Right. I always say in this courtroom, and I mean it, it is never too late for a brand-new start. And now we have the opportunity to have this beautiful young woman have her father.

Jaime, if you have questions you want to ask and answers you need, don't be afraid to ask your parents. That's what they're here for. All right.

Thank you. I wish you all the very best of luck. Court is adjourned.