In Illinois, one needs a license to drive, to fish and hunt, and to cut hair. Maybe it’s time to issue licenses for parenting.
Two recent cases of parents in Round Lake Beach and Fox Lake charged with several counts each of torturing and abusing their children — in one case allegedly causing a son’s death — point to the need for some sort of parental licensing. Or at least justice for their young victims.
The quartet of alleged abusers is behind bars awaiting trial, with county judges refusing to release them, according to multiple media reports. Lake County prosecutors moved quickly to detain them after police in the two jurisdictions investigated the allegations.
Earlier this month, Fox Lake mother Priscilla Marshall, 34, was accused of abusing her son for years and has been charged with domestic battery and child endangerment. Her boyfriend, 35-year-old Cody Marion, faces similar charges.
Last month, Dominique Servant, 33, and her boyfriend, Joey Ruffin, 38, were charged with causing the death of her 8-year-old son, Markell Pierce. His death matches two others in the county in 2022: Damari Perry, 6, of North Chicago, whose beaten body was discovered in Gary, Indiana, and Jayceon Wright of Round Lake Beach, allegedly beaten to death by his mother’s boyfriend. Damari Perry’s mother was charged in connection with his death, along with two of his siblings.
In the Fox Lake case, prosecutors have detailed years of “systematic abuse and torture” they allege Marshall unleashed on her 11-year-old son dating to 2023. The kid, one of five in the household, ran out of the home to a nearby business, bloody and beaten after allegedly being attacked by his mother.
Markell Pierce died on Feb. 6, allegedly after being whipped with a belt, although an autopsy determined the youngster was malnourished and had numerous bruises. His mother, a paraprofessional at the Special Education District of Lake County location at Fairhaven School in Mundelein, certainly should have known better.
“Children must be protected with every tool we have,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement following the Fox Lake arrests. “To think of a child having to flee their own parents is heartbreaking, and I would tell anyone abusing their child that you will face serious consequences when we find you.”
There’s a pattern emerging here from these latest parental abuse situations: Case workers at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services seem to be cavalier when it comes to working hand-in-hand with area law enforcement after reports of abuse reach investigators. Both instances also involve romantic partners not believed to be related to the victims.
These are sorry individuals who, if there is justice, will be going away to a Department of Corrections facility for at least three decades if convicted. That’s the sentence JoAnn Cunningham, 37, of Crystal Lake, received from a McHenry County judge after she was convicted of beating her 5-year-old son, Andrew Freund Jr., to death in April 2019, and facilitating the burial of his body in a shallow grave near Woodstock.
In the Freund instance, a former DCFS worker was sentenced to six months in jail in 2024 in connection with the death of “AJ,” among other punishments, for ignoring numerous signs of abuse in the household. Jayceon Wright’s biological father has filed a civil suit against several child-welfare workers and the state agency, alleging they failed to investigate the case properly, according to a Feb. 25 front-page News-Sun story by Joseph States.
Fox Lake police began the investigation into the Marshall-Marion case on March 6 when officers responded to a report of a young boy in his underwear found bruised and bloody. Prosecutors said police learned the child was being abused and had run away from his nearby home.
At a March 9 detention hearing for Marion, assistant state’s attorneys argued the child experienced years of psychological and brutal physical abuse by his mother, and that he was complicit in the abuse. They noted Marion could have done more to protect the child.
These allegations obviously don’t stem from taps on the tush for corrective measures. Marion’s next court date is set for April 2.
Of course, we’re not alone when it comes to cases of abused children. Media in California reported earlier this week that a couple is facing 27 felony and misdemeanor criminal charges, including torture and child abuse. Investigators in Stanislaus County, outside of San Francisco, say an 11-year-old girl endured at least a year of severe physical abuse from January 2025 to 2026.
Illinois needs to do better when it comes to protecting our youngest citizens from the perils of abuse from their own mothers and the lovers they choose to share their lives with. Or start handing out parental licenses.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor. sellenews@gmail.com. X @sellenews.
