A man who has fathered nine children has received a ruling from a judge to cease procreating.
Corey Curtis, a resident of Racine, Wisconsin, USA, has been mandated to stop having more children as part of his probation conditions until he demonstrates the ability to financially support his nine children from six different mothers.
Judge Tim Boyle from Racine County imposed this unusual sentence as a requirement of a three-year probation after the 44-year-old faced arrest for accumulating $50,000 in child support arrears, along with an additional $40,000 in accrued interest.
“Common sense dictates you shouldn’t have kids you can’t afford,” remarked Judge Boyle.
Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Sommers informed the judge that he could indeed assert some control over Curtis’ reproductive choices. Sommers referenced a 2001 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision which confirmed a judge’s authority to mandate that a defendant, as a part of their probation, not have any more children unless they can prove they are capable of financially supporting them.
“I will make that a condition of the probation,” Boyle responded promptly, assigning Curtis three years of probation.
Defense attorney Robert Peterson claimed that the condition imposed was absent from the pre-sentencing investigation report prepared by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for Curtis.
Curtis expressed his intention to adhere to this requirement.
“Judges, they make rulings,” Curtis stated, “they make them kind of hastily. So, if that’s what he feels one of my conditions should be then I’m going to abide by it.”
Court documents indicate that Curtis has faced multiple arrests and charges for failure to pay child support over the last 11 years. His criminal history features several convictions for issuing bad checks, criminal damage, and burglary.
In the past, a judge in Kentucky similarly instructed a man who had fathered 12 children with 11 different women to abstain from sexual activity in an effort to prevent him from potentially creating a thirteenth dependent.
by Sasha Dubronitz
