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A caption with this Facebook photo read "This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back."
A father accused of binding his toddler daughter with painter’s tape and then posting a picture on Facebook was acquitted Tuesday of unlawful restraint but still faces a pair of domestic battery charges, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Andre Curry, 22, has claimed the incident was a misunderstood joke, NBCChicago.com reported.
The photo on Curry's Facebook page showed his then-22-month-old daughter with her mouth taped shut and her hands bound by blue tape, NBCChicago.com reported.
The caption beneath the photo read, "This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back."
On Tuesday, during an hour-long bench trial before Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood, Curry’s relatives and Chicago police testified that Curry’s daughter was jovial and playful following the Dec. 13 stunt and did not have any visible injuries.
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Curry’s sister, Annastesia Curry, described the events at her South Side Chicago home last year as horsing around. The taping incident, she said, lasted just 30 seconds and the baby was laughing afterward, the Sun-Times reported.
Andre Curry texted the picture to the child’s mother, writing, “Mommy help me.” The mother, Yesmin Doss, 21, testified for the prosecution, the Sun-Times reported.
Detective Charles Hollendoner testified that he saw no bruises or marks on the baby when he checked up on her after Curry’s Facebook friends called officials about the posting, the Sun-Times reported. Hollendoner said Curry told him that he and his daughter continued to play after she slapped him, but that the taping was not retaliatory.
Flood said he would render his verdict on the domestic battery charges on Nov. 8, the Sun-Times reported.
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Curry was jailed until he posted $100,000 bond. He was ordered to stay off the Internet and away from all children under the age of 18, including his daughter, NBCChicago.com reported.
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I would never have reduced this man charges.He would never ever have custody of his daughter.I don't see anything funny about what he did.Her could have suffocated this 22 month old.This man is a bully and he is not playing with a full deck.
Caption was "This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back"
Please save this kid from an immature and stupid father (at best), or an abusive monster (more likely).
This man can't get taken getting hit from a 22 month old what would happen to the little Bit@& if a real man hit him? Wait until he gets to prison.
maybe he spanks her? did ya ever think of that?
I think you guys are the one not playing with a full deck!
Jonathan-1728701 your post is the first that I have read on any vine which indicates that someone exists who is 'short a whole case'. You.
FGH
That comment coming from you is like a complement...
THANKS!
Since you like what I write, do us a favor and get yourself a mental health counselor.
EngEsq, you caught the same thing I did...."when my baby hits me BACK", which I take as him hitting her to begin with.
This child should not be in the custody of this man.
FGH - no mental health counselor is needed... but I do think you need to stop passing judgement without knowing all the facts...
I myself have been guilty in the past of doing this... but I am trying to change...
:-) have a nice day...
Anyone who has ever had a female friend in an abusive relationship knows the line "he was just joking". They should watch out for this guy...
I agree with just a cleaning lady
God. I disagree with both of you. This is clearly another example of the Justice system getting out of control. The father is simply an innocent man who played a joke on his daughter. No harm, no foul. I am simply outraged that he had to pay the corrupt system $100,000 just because the judge couldn't understand this humorous joke. What a folly and what a sham.
1. The judge is taking things wayy too literal and 2. I would not enjoy living in Chicago, knowing this judge can throw me in the slammer if he misinterprets an innocent joke such as this one.
You need to read up a little on law, when you post a bond you pay a bondsman 10% of the bond and the bondsman posts the bond not the accused. If the accused shows up for court the bondsman gets the bond back. As for just horsing around, do you have a 22 month old? This is a baby and that tape is not pleasant to take off and in the least with sting. The man has a problem, he is not mature enough to be a father and is a bully. I applaud the judge, we need to catch the potential child abusers early.And finally: It is never smart to publish your ignorance.
You obviously are ignorant about "painters tape" it comes off very easy and is made to do so. It might not be smart to let everyone know how ignorant you are either. Buy yourself a roll of the tape and see for yourself. It was a stupid joke, and a bad idea but certainly isn't worth taking someones kids away for only that reason.
Alex I agree with you.
My kids and I have done corny things such as this before...in fact, they once asked me to duct tape them to the wall. (I wouldn't do that...duct tape is a killer to get off).
I think it was all probably done in a light spirit...and only if daddy was gruff would it be "harmful" or affect her. My guess is it was all in good fun and the child is JUST FINE.
Call me what you want...people need to lighten up and get a sense of humor.
This "joke" is not funny. What "jokes" will it lead to as she grows older? The mother obviously didn't find it to be funny. i would be outraged if I were texted this picture of my baby girl. He would have paid dearly.
alex7390,
I agree 100%, this was a harmless playtime prank, and the mother is a B@#*h for putting the family through this. The older sister, who was there "Curry’s sister, Annastesia Curry, described the events at her South Side Chicago home last year as horsing around. The taping incident, she said, lasted just 30 seconds and the baby was laughing afterward, the Sun-Times reported."
Painter's tape comes off very easily, and would not cause any discomfort at all, as pkj stated.
SIESTASIS, you need to remember that the bondsman takes 10% of whatever the bond is, $10,000 in this case, as their fee and he will never get that back.
Brainwashedsince birth,
Your name says it all. The only creep in this entire story who didn't find it to be funny is the Muther. I can see why they are not together, cause she is a real loser - as are most of you people crying for blood over a father and his two daughters having some harmless fun to play a joke on Mommy Dearest.
Where there's smoke there's fire! This reminds me of Charles Barkley's comment about "having that day that makes you want to go home and beat the **** out of your wife." Normal people don't think like this. I suppose that's why Mommy and Daddy aren't married and why Mommy didn't see this as a joke. True, it may not have been something that warrants a conviction, but it is certainly something that warrants everyone being leery of this guy. I can see it being a direct threat against Mom. I'd be curious if he'd been the subject of an assault charge in the past.
If it was so innocent then why is the Mother testifying for the prosecution??? Sorry but there is nothing funny about this....and f.y.i I just used painters tape with repainting the inside of our house...and I would say its plenty sticky seeing as its made to stick and keep paint from seeping in...its sticky enough that it ripped paint off trim in some spots...I cant imagine putting it on a toddlers face and hands!!!!!!!But I guess when its not YOUR child its easy to say oh its no big deal wth??? its not right no matter how you slice it...incredibly bad decision enough so that HIS friends and family on facebook turned him in to the police!! I dare say he will never do it again! smh!
painters tape will barely stick to your skin... but it will stick to the back side of painters tape... that is the only way it would hold on to her hands...
I am 100% positive that it will not hurt when it comes off...
its not like duct tape or anything like that...
its a stupid joke but the government is out of control...
you morons who want him thrown in jail are wacked out and are stuck in the matrix dream world where fact dont matter...
While I would box my hubby's ears for doing something like this to one of ours, it wasn't criminal. Men play with their children in a different manner than women do and I'm guessing that most of the really negative comments are from women. If they had found marks of some kind on the child or there was a history of abuse or even the neighbors had wondered about the relationship (that bad feeling we get about someone) then I might agree. But this was a just a very poorly thought out practical joke. If those become a jailable crime, someone's going to have to figure what to do with the key when the last person on earth is locked up.
Wow. I see that a whole bunch of contenders for the first ever 'short a whole case award' exist.
Somebody please 'beam me up'.
Yeah this is getting out of hand. The father is obviously an idiot for thinking it's funny and not realizing the trouble it could stir, but on the other hand you can't joke like you could twenty years ago as everyone is fearful of everyone and anything. America is now officially scared schitless, and it's pretty pathetic, but the government has us just where they want us, controlled through fear and loathing.
I remember my brother duct taping me to a chair when we were kids. It was all in good fun. Times have changed unfortunately. Obviously it was a joke that was taken out of context. When the detective arrived, the child did not have a mark on her she was fine. It is a good thing they did come and check though because you can never know about people anymore. However, most abusers wouldn't post their "handy work" online, I'd think. I could be wrong.
Most abusers would never post their handy work online? Duh. What do you think child pornography is?
First off, child pornography doesn't have to be online. BUT yes disgusting low lives will post stuff online to secure sites not on facebook. And "duh"... really? What are you 12?
A white dude would be in jail for 30 years following this stunt.
And?
It looks like "blue painters tape" which is unbelievably easy to take off. The only possible punishment for having a bad sense of humor is obviously to take his kids away and lock him up for life.
You people are as ridiculous as he was.
No, 'You people' are not as rediculous as he was.
No no you people are not as bluediculous as he was.
Purplediculous? We can do this for ALL the colours!!
another victory for the child worshippers.
"child worshippers"???? Hope you NEVER father any children if that's your attitude. What's wrong with you?!?!?!
Whether or not this is a joke gone bad; I'll let the courts settle it. IMO if the child was older, it might have been a bit more easily taken as a joke. But this just looks bad no matter how old the child is. I mean look, a very young child bound with tape! Over her mouth to boot! Joke or not, this is just a lack of common sense.
However, my biggest question is, why do people do stupid things, photograph them and then post them on Facebook???
Whether it was a joke or not, stupid is as stupid does and that was pretty stupid to advertise that for the world to see. U are asking for attention. Unfortunately for him, he got the wrong attention.
How awful this poor baby was tortured with painters tape(joking here folks). I say stick the tape on daddy and let the little girl go after him with some pink paint and brush(still joking folks.) That should teach him.
Dad, think bigger next time and use a refrigerator box made to look like a jail. Just cut out two small windows, use licorice for bars, cut out a door-use marker to create a lock and insert baby and food:)
Remember, don't send pictures on-line, nor say where you got idea. I still have mine from using it to go grass sliding
I also do not understand why the charge was dropped. If anything he should have been charged with a more not less.
He should never be aloud to be alone with this child or any other child for that matter. What a horrible thing to do to a child.
He is a sadist. If he would do this to a 22 month old just think of what he would think would be "fun" with a grown woman.
Steven100 - You are insane, it's that simple. While the joke may well have been in bad taste and poorly thought out, it is in no way abuse. My kids did worse than this to each other for goodness sake and they are just fine!
Windancersong - GREAT idea! I actually had a 'jail' like that when I was a kid, but kids don't seem to do things like that anymore. In this case I feel completely justified in blaming video games...they keep kids from exercising their imaginations and that is terribly sad.
She slapped him back? Enough said!
This is demeaning. This little girl is being taught to accept demeaning treatment from males at a very early age. Don't be surprised when she chooses boyfriends who belittle her and abuse her. If she hits you, put her in her high chair for 15 minutes without a snack or toys. Remind her why she's there. That will then tranlate easily into taking away the cell phone when she's in her teen years, a most effective form of discipline.
Oh boy. 15 minutes? You DO realize that is FAR too long for a 22 month old child, right? If one decides to use "time out" then 3-5 minutes is more appropriate for the age.
Aside from that, why do you people assume the 'hits me back' was what happened? With the spelling I took it to be part of the joke, which it may well have been. This whole argument is silly and stupid.
This is what happens when children have children...irresponsible and totally lacking in common sense. Using your toddler as the brunt of a joke is shows a lack of smarts on the the father's part. Maybe he shouldn't be left a lone with the kids.
that charge should never have been acquitted. The sister would lie to keep her brother from going to jail. It is just in bad taste to post idiot pictures like that to fb. Obviously his friends on fb knew what he was like and reported the incident, however the judge was not doing his or her job to let this charge go. Of course the little one could have been joking after, she doesn't know her daddy isn't supposed to do this to her. If I was the mom I would get this back to family court asap and have supervised visits (not family supervising) or no visits.
I don't know how any of you who think this is just a joke can make light of this, this is a defenseless baby not a doll. It just goes to show that there are many on here who just may end up being child abusers themselves if they are amused by this kind of behavior.
This picture certainly shows poor judgment. Pictures and electronic media has also made it very easy to distort the facts. The child definitely has painters tape on her. That would be a fact. The intent and the situation cannot be ascertained from this. If you saw the EXACT same image on a made for TV movie on the OWN channel or FAM channel,you would not think there was a problem. If, in fact, they were playing and there were a few adults present, and they were all(including the child) laughing and having a good time then, this is at worst a case of bad judgment. Part of the problem is that your imagination will invoke all sorts of evil goings on here. Things like this are certainly important enough to investigate but don't assume that there was bad intent, prove it.
Monad-3377727,
There should be no need for "a few adults" to be present when a father is playing (harmlessly) with his daughters. The children, and the police, already stated that everyone was happy during and after the incident.
The only thing that made it a case of bad judgement was the posting of the image to his ex-wife's Facebook wall. Her actions were a much more serious case of bad judgement, however.
The children were taken, he lost $10,000 to the bail bond company, and the lawyers will eat up more money. What a Witch! She probably does not even need a costume for Halloween.
I agree SingBiker.
What started as harmless fun was blown out of proportion because of the posting.
I am a firm believer in family rights to privacy and to parental control. sadly, he brought the whole world into it when he used the internet.
Holy CRAP, you people are some ignorant holier-than-thou fools. Even the police stated that the children were happy, and jovial when they arrived.
It's PAINTER's tape, for goodness sake. It is made to come of easily, so no harm to the daughter.
She enjoyed it, her older sister enjoyed it and Dad enjoyed it. The only ones who didn't are his broomhilda ex and you Nazis.
Go ahead put it on a 22 month old and see how easy it is for them to get out of? He wasn't thinking, brothers and sisters are different, but mothers and fathers don't tie up their children, even during play time. She hit him so he thought this would be funny laugh is no him now. Excuse children are happy when police come 22 month doesn't know better she loves her dad unconditionally!Give her some ice creamor a new toy she a happy camper. I hate to be your kids or ex you have no respect for others.
The kid is already rocking the low-rider waistband. Family is probably all gangsta pants, lock them all up.
I have a pretty good sense of humor, but after the trragic deaths of two young girls this month, this is not funny..at all.
I got home one day to find my eight year old ducked taped to a chair in the garage, including duck tape on his face. As I was ready to scream at my two older boys, 10 and 12, they stopped me and said the 8 year old did it to himself. The 8 year old confirmed that he did it by himself. Oh gosh - maybe we should throw him in jail now since obviously he will be a child abuser when he grows up. You guys are nuts.
I think we have all tried it once.
Really? We all have tried it once? I have never been, nor have I seen kids tieing and taping each other up, whether for retaliation or fun. I lived in urban areas with large neighborhoods. I attended large schools and have seen fights, bullying and other jokes. Some jokes were in poor taste. Some of the fighting and bullying was out of hand. The most similar prank I have seen is locking someone out of a room - not inside of the room.
Anyone who states that this father was exhibiting average behavior is a liar and anyone who laughs at his 'joke' is a fool.
place me in the "joke taken the wrong way" camp... the guy posts the picture, the kids all say it was in fun. Bad joke, not really funny? Comedians get booed off stage - this guy gets arrested, pays the 10% fee to a bondsman because wifey has a grudge to settle, evidently...
Lawyers and bonds-people (gotta be PC, of course!!) are laughing to the bank...
Real funny joke @!$%#. I feel very sorry for this little girl. No one in their right mind would do this as a joke. And if it was suppose to be a joke I don't see how it is funny in the least. I would not let this little girl alone with this creep!
I'd really like to know... when it is ever appropriate to bind and gag a 22 month old child. A 22 mo old child will not 'get' the humor. A 22 mo old child should not be the subject of a 'joke.' Fun to a 22 mo old is stacking blocks and knocking them down, doing somersaults or watching Sesame Street. Bondage certainly does not entertain a 22 mo. old. Sure it's painter's tape, but it's still tape and it's still grossly inappropriate at ALL levels.
If it were my child, I would personally see to it that the child's father was never alone with the child again until she turned 18. The father is a dumb SOB who got much less than he deserved.
Am I missing something?? Where does it say in the article that it was painters tape? All it said was that it was blue tape. With that being said I think it's cruel and can certainly be deemed as mental abuse. The father is a bully to play such a crappy joke on his own child. As for the mother, she was not the one who turned him in, it was his fb friends...... although she should have.
oops! Never mind it said painters tape right at the begining.....Now that's silly
Looks to me a lot of you folks need to get a life, it was a joke. Even the detective said the child wasn't hurt & the other adults at the home said they were playing & the child was laughing.
Things like this happen when children have children. I believe that the taping and posting of the picture was done as a joke, however a child of 22 months does not understand that. I hope that parenting classes for both mom and dad are ordered and follow-up with a case manager.