Investigators say Andre Curry, 21, who is charged with aggravated domestic battery, used duct tape to hold the 1-year-old in place. The photo reportedly showed the tape around her wrists, ankles and over her mouth.
In court Wednesday, a judge ordered a $100,000 bond for Curry and told him that while the case is pending, he cannot have contact with his daughter or any other children under 18.
"Based on the information that we have received, we felt that the appropriate charges were aggravated domestic battery. I can't go any further than that," said Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.
The Facebook photo, which has since been removed, appeared on websites like TheSmokingGun.com. ABC7 shot the photo on that website but have blurred out the girl's face so she cannot be recognized.
In court, prosecutors said Curry used blue duct tape to bound his daughter's feet, hands, and cover her mouth. They said he then took his cell phone, snapped the picture and put it on Facebook with a caption that reads, "This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back. ;)"
Public defender Anand Sundaram told the judge that this case has been "thrown out of proportion." He went on to argue that Curry has no criminal history and has a job working at the chain restaurant Applebees to support his daughter. Instead of bond, the public defender asked that Curry be released and tracked with an electronic monitoring device.
Curry lives with relatives at a South Side home on 97th Place, but no one answered the door Wednesday. One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, called Curry a loving father who would not hurt his daughter. "No, he wouldn't do anything to hurt the baby. That was just some little prank, joke that he was showing on Facebook to his little friends. That's all," said the neighbor, who has known Curry since childhood. "He had no intent to hurt that baby." She said what Curry did was stupid but not criminal.
The Department of Children and Family Services is conducting its own investigation. DCFS says it had no prior contact with Curry or the girl's family.
Relatives are taking care of the little girl.
