This whole thing sounds pretty sick to me. And I'm a lifelong Packer fan.
My two-year old son has thrown plenty of tantrums, and even in my darkest thoughts have I considered restraining him for an hour with tape.
Should the state have been involved? In an ideal world, no. The parents should have worked it out themselves, I think. But if the mother did think it was abusive, how can she prevent more abuse in the future other than by taking that action in this instance?
The family was laughing, joking, taking pictures. When the kid finally got tired of the joke, they released him.
Yes, not exactly a 'Leave it to Beaver'Family, but also not a vicious and sick warped mentality of the Joan Crawford type.