Said By MSNBC
Yankees' Johnson admits to 'love child'
Pitcher involved in legal squabble with mother over child-care payments
Johnson
Updated: 1:46 p.m. ET March 28, 2006
New York Yankees pitcher Randy Johnson is suing former girlfriend Laurel Roszell for $97,000 for child-care payments he made for Heather, a 16-year-old child he fathered but kept secret, the New York Daily News and New York Post reported Tuesday.
According to court documents, Johnson first agreed in 1997 to pay Roszell $5,000 per month in child support for Heather, and another $750 in monthly day care expenses, the Daily News said.
Laurel said Johnson balked last year after she asked the 3-time Cy Young Award winner to buy a car for Heather and pay for her community college classes, the Daily News said.
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Johnson then demanded that Laurel return $71,000 in day-care payments and $26,000 in interest because the teen was too old to be in day care, according to legal papers.
"My daughter is 16 and has not been in day care for at least five years," Johnson said in a Feb. 3 affidavit. "[Roszell] should not receive a windfall for expenses she did not incur."
Johnson fathered Heather with Laurel Roszell, 46, whom he started dating in 1988 when she was working at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in northern California, the Daily News said.
"I do acknowledge that I have a daughter from a previous relationship, which ended years before my marriage," Johnson, 42, said in a statement. "I have fully financially supported her and have made every effort to protect her privacy."