Fox News is reporting that a very disturbing photo posted to Facebook has sparked an investigation as to whether child abuse was taking place.
The picture shows a young child with her hands, legs and face bound with duct tape and a caption that said “This is wut [sic] happens wen [sic] my baby hits me back. ; )”, the picture was posted by Andre Dmcg Curry on Facebook where his profile described him as being 21 and married.
The picture has already spurned tons of hateful posts to the owners facebook page.
Officer Mike Sullivan, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, told FoxNews.com that the image has been linked to an “ongoing investigation”
Chicago Police Detectives Curry in for questioning. As of today he has not been placed under arrest.
Jimmie Whitelow, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, said his agency also is investigating the image. Whitelow said DCFS officials have had no prior contact with the family.
The issues being raised by this post and others like it are whether things like this should be considered funny (assuming that Curry didn’t actually do this to his own daughter) and what actions Child protective services should take if they turn out to be fakes. Should a person who finds child abuse funny have his mental status and ability to care for his own children questioned?
It also raises all the typical questions of how far places like Facebook should go to maintain privacy. Is there a way for the Internet giant to report things like this directly to the police?