Prosecutors said Friday they will seek a grand jury indictment against a 34-year-old Hoffman Estates man who was charged with beating a 3-year-old boy who was in his care.
Michael Kelly was arrested May 30, two days after the baby was treated at a hospital for minor head injuries, bite marks and bruises.
Police and prosecutors say Kelly repeatedly shook and struck the baby, dropped him to the floor several times, and bit him while he was baby-sitting at his apartment in the 200 block of Pleasant Street in Hoffman Estates.
During a preliminary hearing Friday in the Rolling Meadows branch of Cook County Circuit Court, Assistant State’s Atty. Michael Gerber told Judge Francis Glowacki that he will ask the grand jury to indict Kelly on charges of aggravated battery to a child, a Class I felony ranging in punishment from probation to as much as 30 years in prison.
Police and prosecutors say the baby, who is the son of Kelly’s girlfriend, was injured late on the evening of May 28 while his mother was working.
The baby’s mother brought the child to Northwest Community Hospital early the following day, and investigators from the Hoffman Estates Police Department were notified.
The baby was treated for his injuries, which included ruptured blood vessels on his head, and released the same day. He was returned to his mother’s home.
Kelly was arrested May 30 and released on $1,000 bond.
Gerber also secured from the judge an order of protection barring Kelly from having any contact with the baby.
Gerber added that if Kelly or any of the baby’s relatives violate the order, they would all be subject to criminal prosecution.
Kelly is due back in court July 29.
