A man who has fathered nine children has been told by a judge to stop procreating.
Corey Curtis, of Racine, Wisconsin, USA, has been ordered to stop breeding as a condition of probation until he can financially support his nine children from six different women.
Racine County Judge Tim Boyle sentenced Curtis to the rare punishment as a condition of a three-year probation order, which came after the 44-year-old was arrested for owing $50,000 in child support, plus another $40,000 in interest.
“Common sense dictates you shouldn’t have kids you can’t afford,” Judge Boyle said.
Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Sommers told the judge he did have some authority regarding Curtis’ reproduction rights. Sommers cited a 2001 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling upholding a judge’s power to order a defendant, as a condition of probation, to not procreate again unless he can show he can financially support the child.
“I will make that a condition of the probation,” Boyle said immediately, sentencing Curtis to three years’ probation.
Defense attorney Robert Peterson argued the probation condition was not recommended in Curtis’ pre-sentencing investigation report by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
Curtis said that he planned to comply with the condition.
“Judges, they make rulings,” Curtis said, “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 records showed that Curtis has been arrested and charged with failure to pay child support on numerous occasions over the past 11 years. His criminal record shows numerous convictions for passing bad cheques, criminal damage, and burglary.
Previously, a Kentucky judge ordered a man who had fathered 12 children with 11 women to refrain from having sex in an attempt to keep him from adding a thirteenth dependent.
by Sasha Dubronitz
