Gerry Smith| Oct 13, 2011 5:53 PM EDT
Huffington Post
Family Secrets: Parents Prey On Children’s Identities As Victims Stay Silent
A Family Secret
Parents use their children’s Social Security numbers for a variety of reasons. Some use them to get jobs because they have felony convictions on their records. Others use them to apply for credit cards and utilities because their own credit is tarnished.
Last April, Maryland resident Jimmy Louis Craighead, 40, was convicted of stealing the identities of his three children — ages 6, 4 and 2. He told a judge he and his wife were not able to get credit in their own names, so they used their children’s names to get money for food, fuel and other necessities, according to the Carroll County Times.
“They have maxed out their ability to get credit, so they borrow their child’s thinking, ‘Oh, it’s okay. I’ll pay all the bills so by the
time they turn 18, they’ll have great credit,’” Linda Foley, co-founder of ID Theft Info Source and an expert on child identity theft, said at a conference in July. “Well, they haven’t unlearned the bad behaviors that got them in debt in the first place, so at 18, the child ends up in debt.”
That debt can take years to remove from a credit report. When Chip St. Clair was 15, his parents stole his identity to take out nearly $50,000 in student loans, utilities, apartment leases and car loans over the course of three years, he said. He didn’t find out until 1998, when he was 22 and his father was charged with escaping from an Indiana state prison in the 1970s.
He also learned that his father, who went by the name David St. Clair, was actually Michael Dean Grant, a convicted child killer. Grant had used Chip’s Social Security number to create a new identity.
After his father’s arrest in 1998, Chip’s mother wrote a letter for her son to give to his creditors. Written in cursive on stationery with a brown stuffed bear, the letter began “To Whom It May Concern: I am writing
this letter in hopes it will straighten out my son’s credit and financial problems.”
It continued: “Chip is trying to regroup and make something of himself and all this from the past is holding him back. … He should not be held accountable for the sins of his father. … Please try to have compassion for Chip’s situation and help him clear his good name.”
Now 36 and a resident of Rochester, Mich., St. Clair said he has spent the last decade trying to remove fraudulent charges from his credit report while paying high interest rates on loans because of his poor credit. He has still not been able to erase student loans that his parents took out in his name, he said. In October, he tried to open a utility account, but was told he had an outstanding balance of $500 from an address where his parents lived 20 years ago.
“Your credit is your lifeline to society,” St. Clair told The Huffington Post. “When it’s stolen from you, it creates so many problems in your life. It still haunts me to this day.”
Chip St. Clair (left) says his parents stole his identity when he was a child.
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Plex Systems, Inc. Receives Award from St. Clair Butterfly FoundationAUBURN HILLS, Mich., Each year the St. Clair Butterfly Foundation presents a Lifetime Achievement Award to a member of the community at the annual gala. Since 2007, the board of directors for the St. Clair Butterfly foundation has been considering an award of equivalent recognition to a corporate entity at the gala. They have been seeking a company They have chosen Plex Systems as the first recipient of the annual award. The board has also voted to name this honor to future corporate entities the “Plex” Award. “It is a rare kind of commitment in today’s corporate world of the time, money and other resources that Plex Systems has provided,” said St. Clair Butterfly Foundation Executive Director Chip St. Clair. “They have truly set the bar by which all future recipients will be measured. It is a testament of the generosity and enlightened approach to corporate citizenship that makes Plex Systems a company to emulate.” “We are humbled and honored to receive this award,” said Plex Systems CEO and President Mark Symonds. “We are so impressed at the programs provided by the Foundation and thrilled to be contributing to the healing and positive changes they bring to so many people.” St. Clair Butterfly Foundation Founded in 2007 by Chip and Lisa St. Clair and based upon his bestselling memoir The Butterfly Garden, the St. Clair Butterfly Foundation utilizes the power of creative arts, literature, and overall well-being programs to impact the lives of children facing adversity. Art and music programs, nutrition, gardening, yoga, stress management, and even book clubs provide creative outlets for children and teens whose backgrounds vary from abuse to the sudden death of a parent or loved one — from childhood illness to the struggles of the foster care system. The Foundation has touched the lives of nearly 1000 troubled youths, helping to find a creative outlet that takes them beyond the boundaries of their environment as an alternative to drugs, violence and gangs. Nearly all operating expenses are generously donated in-kind, which allows almost 100 percent of funds to go directly to programs to help children. About Plex Systems, Inc. Plex Systems, Inc. is the developer of Plex Online, a SaaS ERP (software as a service) cloud ERP solution for the manufacturing enterprise. Plex Online offers industry-leading features for virtually every department within a manufacturer, including Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Quality Management Systems (QMS) for the shop floor, Supply Chain Management (SCM) for procurement, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for finance and management. Plex Online’s comprehensive functional coverage delivers a “shop floor to top floor” view of a manufacturer’s operations, enabling management to run its business at maximum efficiency. Founded in 1995,Plex Systems is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with customers around the globe. Follow Plex Systems on Twitter. Plex Systems and Plex Online are trademarks of Plex Systems, Inc. |
struggled to make sense of a troubled, abusive childhood, and he had questions
about the direction he should take in his life.
surroundings.”
the domestic violence shelter HAVEN, St. Clair said.
proven to help clients cope better.”
well.”
change.
outstanding support and community service. Emceed by Food Network Celebrity Chef Michelle Bommarito, the evening is also slated to include their highly anticipated butterfly release, a symbol, St. Clair says, of the community truly coming together to make a change.
