A Will County judge has decided
a Mokena mother wasn’t abusing her son when she gave him a beating with a belt as punishment for misbehaving at school.
Korie Kellogg, 30, mother of former Chicago Bull Eddy Curry’s 11-year-old son, was
acquitted of a charge of aggravated battery to a child Friday by Judge Daniel Rozak.
The acquittal came as Rozak granted a motion by her attorney, Jeff Tomczak, for a directed finding of not guilty. In a directed finding, a judge rules that
prosecutors failed to prove their case and throws out the charges without the defendant ever having to mount a defense.
Tomczak made the motion after prosecutors presented their case against Kellogg during a Jan. 3 bench trial.
Prosecutors had argued that physically disciplining children is not illegal, but said what Kellogg did crossed the line.
“Ma’am, there are a lot of people who don’t view things the way I do,” Rozak said after issuing his decision.
“If I was you, I’d want to make extra special sure you don’t end up back here on something like this again.”
Kellogg’s son hugged her after the decision was issued, and a large group of friends and family congratulated her.
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Kellogg owns Proactive Realty in Frankfort, and recently launched the Chicago Crave, a new team in the Bikini Basketball Association, in which she was a player.
“I discipline my son out of love,” she said. “My judge allowed a parent to be a parent. I think my judge made a big statement today.”
Police said on April 3, 2012, Kellogg had her son remove his clothing before she hit him with a belt 10 to 15 times as a punishment for behavior problems at school.
She first told him she was going to punish him that way and explained why, Tomczak said. Afterward, she hugged him and told him she loved him, he said.
An employee at her son’s school noticed bruises on the boy the next day and told Kellogg to take him to the hospital. Kellogg took her son to Silver Cross Hospital, where a staff member called police.
Tomczak said Rozak’s verdict was “legally and morally appropriate.”
“Her motives were nothing than to make her son better and stop him from bullying kids at school,” Tomczak said. “Everything she did for little Eddy was because she loved him and wanted him to be a good kid.”
Kellogg said she was married to Curry, who she knew as a childhood friend, for two years. Curry signed a contract in December to play basketball in China.
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