The young father accused of tying up and putting tape over the mouth of his 22-month-old daughter and then post the photo on his Facebook page, was acquitted on Tuesday of one count of false imprisonment, but the judge said he needed more time to decide on more serious charges of aggravated domestic battery.
Lawyer Sam Adam Jr., who represents Andre Curry, 22, argued that his client was a good father he was being playful and that the child was never in danger. "It was a stupid thing to do, there's no doubt about it," Adam told Judge Lawrence Flood.
"But we are asking you to find him not guilty of some very serious charges." judge held off a ruling on charges of aggravated domestic.
According to testimony Tuesday in a brief trial before Flood, Curry was playing with the child in his home last December when he grabbed a roll of blue painters tape, tied the girl's hands and feet together and put two strips of tape over her mouth. Curry then took a picture of his daughter on his cell phone and posted it on his Facebook page.
At the top of the picture were the words: "This is what happens when my baby hits me back." The message was followed by a winking emoticon. Within hours, the photo became an Internet sensation. Curry was charged a week later.
The Cook County prosecutors said Curry obstructed her breathing and committed aggression by placing tape over the girl's mouth. There was no evidence presented of any injury to the child. Curry’s family, including the baby's mother, Yasmin Doss, has stood by him since the incident.
A Chicago police detective testified Tuesday that the father insisted that everything had been just a joke. "He said the child was bound only up to a maximum of 30 seconds," the detective said. Curry told police he was inundated with hate mail after the publication of the image and removed the photo from his page the next day.
Curry could be sentenced to seven years in prison if convicted of aggravated domestic battery. He is free on bail and ordered to have no contact with his daughter, except through the Department of Children and Family Services.
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