Wharton graduate sues wife, in-laws for pregnancy fraud

This Monday in federal court, Wharton graduate student John Knight will be making legal history. Knight is suing his ex-wife Mary Rourke and her parents for fraud and conspiracy because he said Rourke deliberately misinformed him that she was pregnant with a child that was not his. Knight, who is asking for more than $100,000, said her parents as well knew all along that he was not the father of the girl, who is now five years old. When Knight's attorney Norman Perlberger argues the case before U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter, it will be the first time in history that such a lawsuit will be heard. It is not the first time a man has filed fraud charges over misrepresented paternity. But in similar cases, the lawsuit was supposed to relieve the man of making child-support payments. Knight abandoned his ex-wife's child when he found out that she was not really his. He is seeking to recover money he spent on the marriage and lost income from a career change he made so he could care for his wife because of her mental illness. And if Knight wins, his ex-wife, the five-year-old girl and her grandparents stand to lose the family house from the damages Knight would recover from his suit. Knight was unavailable for comment. Perlberger did not return calls placed to his office. Rosalie Davies, an attorney for the grandparents, told the Philadelphia Daily News that the family's homeowner insurance policy "will not cover an intentional wrong, and fraud requires intent. "Norman [Perlberger] has said to me at they could lose their home," she said. DNA tests determined that Knight was not the father. And when Knight was in a custody battle with Rourke in 1992 after the marriage broke up, he dropped the custody case and all contact with the child after finding that the girl was not his. "I just don't feel like it's right to be a false father figure to her for the rest of her life," Knight said in a deposition. "If I'm not her father, I think the father needs to be a part of her life and to raise her." Knight alleges that Rourke's parents are responsible for the damages because he claims that Rourke told her parents about everything. The Philadelphia Daily News contributed to this article.

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