A Rogue River, Ore., man will make a $25,000 "down payment" and then pay $1,000 a month each month for approximately 3 years until he pays off a debt that was 21 years in the making.

James Tyler Jr. pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of non-support Thursday. He was accused of failing to pay his ex-wife, Judy Carter, child support for his daughter, Amanda Tyler Tilsley, who is now 23.

Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Frank McCown approved an agreement reached between Tyler, his attorney Marty Stillpass and the Lawrence County Prosecutor's Office that allows Tyler to avoid a felony charge, plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge and make the scheduled payments.

Tyler was also given a 6-month jail sentence, which was suspended. Five months was reserved - if he fails to make the required payments, he could go to jail. The agreement also calls for 3 years' probation.

"If he had a felony, he would have lost his trucking job and this would have denied the victim of getting any payments," Assistant Prosecutor Bob Anderson said. "He still has 5 months hanging over his head."

Tyler is an over-the-road truck driver.

Carter will get an immediate payment of $25,000. Under the agreement, the balance of what is owed must be paid by November 2007.

Carter said she and Tyler divorced in September 1982, when Tilsley was 2 years old. At that time Tyler was ordered to make child support payments until the child reached 18 years of age. Carter said Tyler never made any payments and eluded his responsibility to his child.

"I had judgments through the 1980s, but I couldn't afford an attorney. When the laws were changed to make it (non-support) a felony, I got help from the prosecutor's office and in 1993 got a grand jury indictment against him," Carter explained.

But finding Tyler remained a problem. At first, she thought her ex-husband was living still living in northern Ohio, where they made their home at the time of the divorce. In 1991, she discovered he had relocated to Oregon.

Meanwhile, Carter said much of her attention was focused on single parenthood, which is not an easy task on only one income.

"(Child support money) would have given us a place to live," Carter said. " We had to live with relatives. I had the choice between paying rent or a car payment to get back and forth to work."

In July, a chance conversation with Lawrence County Sheriff Tim Sexton gave the matter new impetus.

"He (Sexton) was visiting where I work (at Bob Clyse Olds) and he was talking about the different responsibilities of his office and one of them was non-support cases," Carter explained. "And he mentioned that his deputies went to a lot of different places bringing people back here to face charges in these cases. And I said 'How would you like to go to Oregon?'"

Sexton contacted Oregon officials, and after making positive identification, Oregon authorities apprehended Tyler Nov. 18. He was then brought back to Lawrence County Dec. 2.

Carter praised the sheriff's office, prosecutor's office and courts for their professionalism in the matter.

"They did their best, and kept me informed. We've got a great sheriff and prosecutor's office and staff.," Carter said.

"This is a difficult case," McCown said when sentencing Tyler. "This is something we take seriously. The sad part is that you have not had a relationship with your daughter. Hopefully, you can have a relationship in the future. Maybe something good can come from all of this."

Tilsley said she had no memory of her father since his departure occurred when she was young. She did get a few minutes after the plea hearing to speak to Tyler before he was taken away to complete his court process.

Stillpass said Tyler will return to Oregon. Stillpass said he did not want to speak for Tyler when asked why he had not made child support payments in the 21 years since his divorce from Carter. He said he did not want to comment on "odd circumstances"

surrounding the non-payment that were eluded to during the court hearing. Tyler left the courtroom while Stillpass was speaking with an Ironton Tribune reporter. Stillpass was given contact information for The Ironton Tribune so that Tyler could comment if he chose to do so. Tyler had not contacted The Tribune as of press time.

Anderson said the this was one of the largest non-support cases in Lawrence County that he can remember.

Carter said she would encourage other custodial parents in her position not to give up on getting justice.

"I know it's tough," she said. "But you've got to hang in there."