PARIS – A District Court judge ruled Wednesday that a Lewiston man no longer has to pay child support payments for a child that isn’t his. Geoffrey Fisher, 31, was under court order to pay more than $10,000 in delinquent child support payments for a 3-year-old girl he believed was his. The state also suspended Fisher’s license for being behind in support payments.

When DNA tests revealed in November that Fisher was not the father, he petitioned the court to get his license back and have his child support debt erased from the books.

That happened Wednesday in South Paris District Court, putting to an end a bureaucratic morass in which Fisher couldn’t get his license or a job even though the state has known for months that he wasn’t the father.

“I’m really happy. I feel a lot better,” Fisher said after his court hearing. “Something wrong happened, and I spoke up for myself. Everyone should do that if backed into a corner.”

Fisher had a brief relationship with a woman four years ago and believed her when she got pregnant and told him he was the father. He began paying child support but fell behind over time.

Last summer the Department of Human Services took him to court because of his delinquent payments. The court issued an order telling him to pay up, and the state also had his license suspended under the “deadbeat dad” law.

Last fall, the 3-year-old girl was taken from her mother and placed in foster care. The state ordered a paternity test when Fisher tried to get custody, but the test determined he was not the father and the state refused to let him see the girl.

At that point, one branch of DHS was telling him he could no longer see the girl because he wasn’t the father, while another branch was saying he owed $10,000 and couldn’t have a driver’s license because he was the father.

DHS Commissioner Kevin Concannon said the state has located the biological father of the girl.

He said there have been cases in which the courts refused to lift obligations after a man turned out not to be the father. But those cases usually involved someone who continued to support or have a relationship [with the child] for several years, he said.

In Fisher’s case, he acted quickly, Concannon said. “We expected the court to relieve him of his obligations, and we support that,” he said.

Although glad to have his license back for the first time in six months, Fisher said that officials knew in November he wasn’t the father, yet still made him go without a license – which meant he couldn’t work.

And when the case finally went to court, Fisher said no one apologized and no one offered to return the $1,200 he previously paid in support for somebody else’s child.

“There was no feeling. It was ‘too bad, so sad,'” he said.

Fisher said he plans to talk to legislators about changing the law to ensure what happened to him doesn’t happen to someone else.

“Something should be done, if not for me, for the next guy. I’d like to get my money back, get compensation for the three months I couldn’t work. I did suffer for having to deal with their mess-up,” he said.

Fisher said he asked about the child he thought was his daughter and was told she was doing well in her foster home.

“I asked for a visit, and they said they didn’t know if that was possible.”