State mix-up causes years of trouble for local family

A San Antonio man has been hounded by the Texas Attorney General's Office for more than five years. They want him to pay more than $20,000 dollars in child support. Problem is, he says they've got the wrong guy. News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Mireya Villarreal is investigating how this humiliating mix-up could have happened and if the state is doing anything to fix it. Have you ever gone through the phone book and looked for Maria Garza or John Smith?  There are hundreds of people living in San Antonio with these common names.  But for Jesus Rodriguez and his family, having a common name has cost them a home, their credit and a piece of their life. Jesus Rodriguez has been married for nearly 20 years to Ana Molina.  The couple has three children together. His real name is Jesus Rodriguez, but he goes by Jesse.  It's that nickname that's given Jesus and his family years of trouble.
Since 2003, the Rodriguez family has been hassled by the Texas Attorney General's Office.  It says he owes more than $20,000 in child support. The Attorney General's Office has sent dozens of letters to Jesus Rodriguez's address.  They've called his boss, his credit has been negatively affected and sheriff's deputies even tried to arrest him. "It's embarrassing when the sheriff comes to your door to arrest you," says Jesus' wife, Ana Molina.  "Your neighbors are all like, 'What's going on?' And it's not even him." So the News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooters tracked down the woman who's owed child support.  She asked us not to show her face. When we showed her a picture of Jesus Rodriguez, it didn't take her more than five seconds to tell us she had no idea who he was.

"I've never seen that man before, ever," said the young mother. She says Jesus Rodriguez is not the father who owes her daughter child support. But when we showed her a picture of Jesse Ray Rodriguez that we obtained from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department she immediately knew who he was. "That's Jesse Ray Rodriguez, definitely," she told us.  "That's my daughter, Isis Rodriguez's, father." Jesse Ray Rodriguez is the man the child support department wants.  While he shares a common name with Jesus Rodriguez, the two have different dates of birth, different social security numbers and different children. Jesus has tried to work things out with the Attorney General.  He's gone by the local office three different times, but hasn't had any luck. 

The Director of the Child Support Office here in San Antonio didn't want to talk to us.  So we called their office in Austin. Over the phone, a spokeswoman admitted there was a mix-up. She says Jesus' address was found through a credit bureau program the AG uses when tracking down offenders. But she couldn't tell us why a warrant was put out for Rodriguez or how this all ended up on his credit report. "I'm afraid it's just going to keep on going. There's never going to be an end to it," Ana shared with us. The Rodriguez family has learned to live with the constant harassment. 

Jesus has only one request of the Attorney General: He wants his life back. "If they could just take it off our credit report and say I'm sorry, I'd be ok with that," Jesus admitted.