November 12, 2010, 06:00:00AM. By Charles Benson

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Tampa Bay, FL: A former professional baseball player has appeared in court in Florida after failing to pay child support, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

Elijah Dukes, a former outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays, allegedly owes $74,000 in alimony and child support to his ex-wife NiShea Gilbert, as well as a total of $69,000 in child support to Carla D. Bryant and Porcia Reneal Daniels, two other mothers of his children.

Dukes said during a hearing in May that he had spent all but $1,500 of the money in his Major League Baseball retirement account. The judge at that hearing ordered him to use what money he had to pay child support, but Dukes failed to pay and also failed to appear at subsequent hearings. He was arrested last week on charges of contempt of court and failure to appear.

Dukes now claims that he has no money to pay the child support, having loaned the $1,500 in his retirement account to a man who never paid him back and having sold his valuable belongings. He told the court that he has no permanent address and has been living on a temporary basis with various friends and relatives since being released from the Washington Nationals in March.

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