>>Valley Patriot>> Ralph carrero ralph carerro |
According to documents filed this week in Salem Probate and Family Court, Lawrence City Councilor Barbara Gonzalez (District “C”) is accusing Carerro of being the father of her two-year-old daughter. Gonzalez further asks the court to order suitable child support, retroactive child support from the date of birth of the child - September 24, 2003 - and order Carerro to provide health and dental insurance for his daughter.
Carerro, who is married and until recently lived on Dartmouth Street (two houses away from Councilor Gonzalez), is president of the board of trustees at the Lawrence Family Development Charter School on West Street and is also a coordinator of student services at a local high school. According to sources close to the situation, Carerro sold his Lawrence home and has moved to New Hampshire. Carerro’s house was listed through Prudential Realty at $369,900. Carerro served two terms on the school committee and was the first Latino ever elected to public office in the history of Lawrence. He ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 2001 and is a board member of both the Dominican American National Roundtable in Washington D.C. and the Casa Dominicana in Lawrence. During his eight years on the Lawrence School Committee, Carerro was well known for lecturing parents about not taking responsibility for their children’s education, and spoke often about the importance of fathers taking responsibility for their children. “Parent involvement is critical to the successful development of every child,” Carerro said during a political debate in 2001. “Most importantly, fathers need to take responsibility for the children they father if these kids are ever going to have a fighting chance to succeed in life.” Friends and family members of both Gonzalez and Carerro say that the two had a four-year relationship that Carerro ended when Gonzalez became pregnant. Local talk show hosts on Spanish Language Radio (WCEC) have unmercifully vilified Councilor Gonzalez for the past year while praising Carerro as a pillar of the community. Though Gonzalez would not speak to The Valley Patriot on the record, her sister, Alvi Martinez, was not hesitant to talk about the situation. “I am not sure how Ralph can deny this is his baby. All you have to do is take one look at her and it is obvious he is the father,” she said. “It’s hard enough on Barbara and our family to go through all of this, but it’s been even harder with people in city hall and on the radio speculating about our private life when they don’t know what they are talking about. I was really taken back by the way some in the community have reacted to this, as though Ralph is not responsible for any of his actions … but Barbara is to blame for everything.” Anna Rodriguez, a friend of Gonzalez, said she felt bad about the situation for everyone involved, but added, “I believe in responsible parenting. Adults make choices and when a child is the result of our choice, there should be no games played.” “Having a child is a life-long commitment and there is no other way to look at it or deal with it,” she added. Rodriguez said the family was very concerned. Gonzalez was appointed by the city council to fill the unexpired term of Councilor Nilka Alvarez earlier this year and is currently running for the District “C” seat in her own right. She is hoping the voters will return her to the council for a two-year term. Gonzalez is facing Lawrence School Committeeman Jorge Gonzalez (no relation) and city resident Joe Boren. When asked by a Valley Patriot reporter about the Complaint, Councilor Barbara Gonzalez had “no comment” and asked that all questions be referred to her attorney. Attorney Sandy Durland of the Boston law firm Packenham, Schmidt & Federico has been retained by Councilor Gonzalez to represent her in the child support and paternity suit. Attorney Durland could not be reached for comment by the newspaper deadline. Gonzalez said she was “shocked” that a Valley Patriot reporter had the court documents so quickly after they were filed and asked that the story not be printed. “I really have nothing to say at this time,” Gonzalez said. “You can talk to my lawyer.” Even though the Complaint addresses both paternity and child support, Carerro’s paternity needs to be officially established before the court can rule on the child support. Paternity hearings are held every Thursday at Lawrence District Court by the Department of Revenue. All parties in the paternity dispute must stand in line for a DNA swab test (cells are taken from inside the cheek and compared with the child in question). Once all the parties to the Complaint have provided DNA samples, they get sent to a lab for testing. Results take approximately three weeks and are then sent on to the disputing parties and the court for further action. After paternity has been established, the parties then begin the process of negotiating child support, visitation and other benefits. The process will be similar here. Subsequent to the courts establishment of the paternity, Carerrowill be back in court to seek a judge’s determination of child support and other issues in the complaint, such as health insurance and retroactive payments. Although court papers have been filed, The Valley Patriot has learned that Carerro has not been served with the Complaint as of the day we went to print. No date for the hearing has been setat this time. *Send your questions
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Former Lawrence School Committeeman
Ralph Carerro, well known for his public speeches touting
“the importance of fathers taking responsibility for
their children,” is being taken to court and accused
of refusing to pay child support for his own child. 
In the complaint, Gonzalez is
asking the court to “Adjudicate the Defendant, Ralph
L. Carerro, to be the biological father of the
child.”