Damn. Is there just one brain cell to share among all the drugstore photo developers, police, and district attorneys in Raleigh (my home town), NC? Because otherwise, I can't explain it.
A father was released from jail after six months, his family was reunited, and all child abuse charges were dropped when "expert testimony" determined that a photo of the man kissing his 4-month-old son's belly showed no criminal intent.
[update: not his belly. and from the camera angle--from the top of his head--it wasn't clear what he was kissing.]
Couple Cleared Of Child Sex Charges [nbc17, via robotwisdom]
Damn, I hope they never examine my photo albums, shirtless babies on my chest, on my shoulders, countless zerberts on naked bellies. I'm looking at 20 to life.
Just think about it, if they put you away for that long for a zerbert, imagine what they would do if they caught you using balmex.... What a bunch of retards.
Shouldn't they have to do something for the poor guy as restitution?
Holy crap... They should be looking at the drugstore photo developer to find out what he's got going on if he started all that...
Eckerd Blows.
on the bright side, they're sure to sue the crap out of any and everyone involved, thus ensuring a nice college fund for many generations to come.
When the story first came out 6 months or so ago in the Raleigh press, it wasn't photos of him kissing his son's bellybutton, but rather his penis. The man is arabic, I believe, and his family and community exlpained that such was the custom in his native land. Not that he should have been arrested for that either, but I don't think he was arrested in the first place for kissing the bellybutton. [oh. and whaa?? -ed.]
While I'm all for tort reform and purging the legal system of frivilous lawsuits, I'm all for this couple to lawyer up and sue the daylights out of everyone involved. It's just an extension of the ridiculous zero tolerance policies in our schools.
Well, there is a huge different between a belly and a penis. If it was a penis, I would sort of understand...but a belly is just crazy.
From something I just dredged up in Google news, the baby's backside was to the camera so whatever was being kissed was largely a matter of speculation. Plus, this sort of thing had been tried before (but not in NC) and been thrown out of court. It seems they were holding him to "check his immigration status."
Its a shame that the baby had to spend months in "protective custody" while Mom and Dad fought the system. I'm just about to have my first child and the thought of missing those fleeting first few months is terrible.
I'm a little worried about the pictures of me in my underwear wrestling with them or the ones of my boys wrestling with each other...
sometimes they take your child away forever...which makes we wonder what this "freedom" thing is all about...
Thank god for digital cameras.