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Father Avoids Jail After Church Visit

Court order barred him from taking Jewish daughter

by
Marc Tracy
October 21, 2010
The Reyes couple, pre-split.(ABCNews)
The Reyes couple, pre-split.(ABCNews)

Joseph Reyes, the man who made himself famous by taking his daughter to church, camera crew in tow, despite a court order his ex-wife has requested, has escaped jail-time. Specifically: A court said it could not hold him in contempt because his daughter, Ela, 3, is not visible in the video of the church visit, and so it cannot be proved to the necessary standard that he actually took her to church.

Readers may recall that Joseph, who converted to the Judaism of his wife, Rebecca, when they got married, baptized their daughter once they had split without telling his ex-wife, who has custody, which prompted her to get the anti-church court order. The whole story really gives you faith in humanity.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.