Justin Bieber’s Baby Drama Escalates

Mariah Yeater's 2006 yearbook photo.

More details are coming out about the woman who claims to be the mother of Justin Bieber‘s baby.

Lawyers for Mariah Yeater, 20, appeared on HLN’s “Dr. Drew” show Thursday urging the pop star to “step up and take” a paternity test.

Lawyers Matt Pare and Lance Rogers were asked what they would do if the paternity test came back proving that Bieber, 17,  is not the father of Yeater’s 3-month-old son. If that happens, they might face a lawsuit from Bieber’s team, who has called the lawsuit “malicious,” “defamatory” and “demonstrably false.”

“We think that’s highly unlikely based on the evidence we have, not all of which has been released to the media,” Pare said. “There’s credible evidence that supports he is the father.”

 

There’s also potential for the paternity suit to backfire. The LAPD may look into whether Yeater, who was 19 when she claimed she had sex with the then 16-year-old Bieber backstage at one of his Los Angeles concerts, could be charged with statutory rape. Asked whether Yeater’s paternity suit is an admission of statutory rape, Pare said, “not technically.” He added that even if she is found guilty of statutory rape, “that has no bearing whatsoever on the right for child support.”

Meanwhile, photos of the California girl and self-avowed Bieber fan have emerged online. In many, she shows off her prolific piercings and tattoos. Yeater displays the nonchalance of an immature teenager, throwing up her middle finger at the camera in one photo and posing with saran wrap over her face in others.

Bieber is trying to distance himself from the controversy.

“Never met the woman,” he said on NBC’s “Today” show this morning. ”I’d just like to say, basically, that none of those allegations are true.”

But say a judge ordered Bieber to submit to a paternity test (which could happen if the “credible evidence” Yeater’s lawyers referenced holds up in court) that revealed he is the father of Yeater’s child. How much would he have to cough up for child support?

“He is a very high income earner, but in the case of child support, it’s about finding a reasonable amount that is required to raise the child by the standards of the parent who will have custody,” said family law specialist Debra Opri. “If she thinks she’s going to get $500,000 a month, she’s wrong. $5,000 to $10,000 a month is more likely.”

If Bieber were Opri’s client, she’d put off that paternity test as long as possible.

“I wouldn’t volunteer a paternity test, I wouldn’t make it easy for her whatsoever,” she said. “I would make her life miserable.”