Andre Curry Indicted: Dad Accused Of Posting Facebook Photo Of Bound Baby Faces Felony Charges (VIDEO)

CHICAGO -- A Chicago man accused of posting a photo on Facebook of his young daughter bound to a chair with tape over her mouth has been indicted on several felony charges, a prosecutor's office official said Monday.

A grand jury last week indicted 21-year-old Andre Curry on felony counts of aggravated domestic battery, aggravated battery and unlawful restraint, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County State's Attorney's office. The indictment was handed down last week but only announced on Monday.

Curry made headlines last month after prosecutors say he posted a photo of his bound 22-month old daughter on Facebook with the caption, "This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back."

After brief hearing Monday in which Curry was informed of the indictment, Torrey Barrett, who identified himself as Curry's pastor, reiterated what Curry's family members have been saying since his arrest: That he posted the photograph as a joke and was not trying to harm the child.

"He thought it was funny," said Torrey Barrett. He said at the time Curry took the cell phone photo, he and his daughter were laughing.

"He, in fact, did not harm this child," Barrett said.

A judge last month set Curry's bond at $100,000 and forbade him from contacting the child or using the Internet. Curry has remained in jail because he hasn't been able to post the required $10,000 of his $100,000 bond.

Curry's attorney, Zachary Hamilton, said after Monday's hearing that he will ask the judge at Curry's next hearing, on Jan. 26, to release his client on the promise he will appear in court.

Barrett, assistant pastor at the Life Center Church of God in Christ, said he hoped the judge will be swayed by a petition that is being circulated in support of Curry. He said he expected the petition, which now includes 300 signatures, will have 1,000 signatures by the next hearing.

He also said that Curry wants to now warn other young people about the consequences of what he called a "stupid mistake."

"The best thing to do is let him out and (let him) tell his story," said Barrett.

Comments

[recovering christian]

06:31 AM on 03/09/2012

"Barrett, assistant pastor at the Life Center Church of God in Christ, said he hoped the judge will be swayed by a petition that is being circulated in support of Curry." ....says it all doesnt it?

[rewith85man]

12:12 AM on 01/12/2012

That is what he gets for being a 'ghetto parent'.

[CerealMom]

10:31 PM on 01/10/2012

This "joke" could have become deadly if the child had asthma or vomited.....so it is NOT funny.I find it disturbing that he "hits" a 22 month old in the first place.They cannot comprehend corporal punishment at that stage!All they know is that they are being hit and it is natural for them to strike back.The bail is a bit excessive but as someone else said the court may be privy to info we are not.

[Michael Myer]

06:15 PM on 01/13/2012

He did not reeeallly hit the child -- he was joking about it. That is implied in the story -- the child was laughing about it -- they were playing. Albeit, this was a stupid game to be playing -- especially taping one's mouth.

[Derpalerpa]

09:09 PM on 01/10/2012

Children raised under the care of a single mother are 4 to 7 times more likely to die than children raised under the care of a single father.

Guy's still an idiot though, even if it was a joke.

[Grinling Gibbons]

10:48 PM on 01/10/2012

Unless you can source that data, I'll assume you either made it up or got it from some other MRA who made it up.

I'm pretty sure the number of children under the care of single mothers is somewhere around 50 times as many as those under the care of single fathers. Which would explain the discrepancy, but I doubt honesty interests you much. More important to post about a bad father by making up data that "proves" mothers are worse.

[Derpalerpa]

10:44 PM on 01/11/2012

"Collectively, 83.1% of single parents are mothers compared to 16.9% of those who are fathers." This is from a sample size of about 13.6 million, that would put it at a lot closer to five times the amount of single mothers as opposed to single fathers. So, let's do the numbers on this one...that is over 2 million single fathers and over 11 million single mothers. No matter how you look at it, that is such a large sample size(in both directions) that outliers and skewed stats SHOULD be out the window. With that said, out of those 13.6 million single parents, they are caring for over 21 million children. I don't know how those children are distributed, so I will admit that could possibly be a factor. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_parent

"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that for each year between 2000 and 2005, 'female parents acting alone' were most likely to be perpetrators of child abuse."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_abuse#Prevalence

"A Child in a female-headed home is 10 times more likely to be beaten or murdered."
Source: The Legal Beagle, July 1984, from “The Garbage Generation”

[Derpalerpa]

11:09 PM on 01/11/2012

"Based on the report by Dawson, J., & Langan, P. (1994, “Murder in Families, Bureau of Justice Special Report. Washington, DC: Department of Justice, NCJ-143498,” 55% of convicted child murderers are the biological mothers of the victims...crept up to 61 percent since then...is inexorably increasing year after year."[sic]
http://mkg4583.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/who-hurt-the-baby-55-of-convicted-child-murderers-are-the-biological-mothers/

I'll admit that the the Beagle is out of date and probably higher than is actually the case. With that said, I know that the 4 to 7 times ratio that I threw out there is(was?) on wikipedia as of 6 months ago, and that I've seen it cited before from other sources..but now I just can't find it, so I'll say my bad to that one. There were other journals I read relating to this, but they mostly talked about the rise of filicide by mothers in general, so I've excluded those. I would be glad to send them to you, if you are interested. At the very least, however, you can see that there is no shortage of evidence indicating a healthy degree of truth in it.

Also, please stop telling me that I(or anyone else here) hates women. You do not know me, or any other person you have been telling that to. It is a completely unfounded ad hominem attack, and undermines the civility of the conversation. Thank you =)

[alsm9]

10:40 AM on 01/11/2012

According to who?? You??

[Derpalerpa]

11:10 PM on 01/11/2012

See above, please.

[CWAVvolunteer]

07:37 PM on 01/10/2012

Humane Society to Prevent Animal Abuse Budget: $100 Million, Prevent Child Abuse America: $3 Million, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, closed its doors March 2011, CWAV budget: $50,000 - $2.8 Million needed to fund our programs. First child abuse case was reported to the American Humane Society for the Prevention of Animal Abuse. www.childrenwithoutavoiceusa.org

[CWAVvolunteer]

07:37 PM on 01/10/2012

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[zooperman]

07:19 PM on 01/10/2012

The Chicago justice system is run amok. What is it, election time????

[hustler101]

06:51 PM on 01/10/2012

Black people are funny.

[rewith85man]

12:13 AM on 01/12/2012

I could say the same about Jim Carey and Adam Sandler, only that they are not black.

[viper1ex19]

05:33 PM on 01/10/2012

I can't even think of proper words for this guy, other than; "What A Friggin Idiot"

[Xenite]

05:30 PM on 01/10/2012

Charges are WAY overboard. This guy could be facing decades in prison for using painters tape (very flimsy, that kid could even break it) for what was probably an ill-conceived joke.

[dhanuw]

06:52 PM on 01/10/2012

No... he will be punished for toturing and abusing an innocent, helpless child. Do you think it is funny? Are you sick in the head too?

[AltonJR]

07:00 PM on 01/10/2012

That is strong tape wrapped around and around a young toddler's limbs. It would be impossible for her to break it. I doubt even an adult could. The father must have a serious lack of parental empathy and bonding.

[birdadopt]

05:06 PM on 01/10/2012

Just because you're capable of 'fathering' a child ; does not mean you should! Definatly immature and in need of help in the parenting skills dept. This taping up of a young child is in NO way funny,and was also dangerous and frightening to the little girl. I hate to think of the perverts that may have seen this picture,and 'enjoyed' it.

[OGSal]

04:49 PM on 01/10/2012

We're arguing the point of duck tape - or painter's tape. The hands & feet are bound/wrapped several times - the child does not know the difference. Not funny in the least.

[dhanuw]

06:54 PM on 01/10/2012

Yes! I am sick of theese ignorant fools trying to sound like it is okay to use painters tape to gag and bound an innocent, helpless child instead of using duct tape. I mean how sick is that?

[AlonzoQuijana]

04:45 PM on 01/10/2012

Why is this in the technology section? It is a crime story. Facebook is no longer a novelty if that was the rationale.

[ALTYRA23]

04:45 PM on 01/10/2012

i DO NOT CARE IF IT WAS SCOTCH TAPE. THIS IS WRONG!!!!

[josie anne]

04:30 PM on 01/10/2012

Please let him tell his story instead of writing, the man can't spell or parent