Attorney says mother of injured St. Charles 2-year-old also a victim

A St. Charles woman charged with aggravated battery because, according to prosecutors, she did nothing to stop her boyfriend from beating her child, should not be held legally responsible, her attorney believes.

Cathleen Koch, 29, appeared in bond call Thursday afternoon at the Kane County Judicial Center, following her arrest Wednesday by St. Charles police. A grand jury indicted Koch Tuesday for her role in the Oct. 27 beating of her daughter in a St. Charles hotel room where the two lived with James Cooper of Elburn.

In addition to the battery charge, Koch was charged with misdemeanor child endangerment and felony obstruction of justice.

Cooper is accused of shaking the 2-year-old girl by the arms in midair, then slamming her face down onto a bed. The child suffered broken bones and bleeding on the brain, and was not breathing when rescue personnel arrived. The girl remains hospitalized.

Cooper has been in custody since Oct. 29 on a charge of aggravated battery. Tuesday, the grand jury also indicted him on three charges of child endangerment.

“She is not the perpetrator of the crime,” attorney Liz Lovig said after Koch's hearing.

Lovig said prosecuting Koch for the beating of her daughter “creates a chilling affect on victims of domestic violence reporting” incidents that involve their children, if they think they are going to be arrested and held responsible for the abuse.

Even though the grand jury determined Koch did not strike her daughter, her failure to intercede on her child's behalf makes her accountable, authorities said. In addition, according to the state's attorney's office, Koch should have prevented Cooper from supervising the child when she knew he had twice before injured the girl; Koch should not have kept the child in a room where heroin was present; and Koch should have prevented the child from accompanying Cooper when he went to buy drugs.

Lovig said Koch had been hit by Cooper in the days before the attack. Lovig said she did not know of any previous abuse to the child, because she had just received the indictments Thursday.

“She herself was a victim of James Cooper during this attack on (the girl),” Lovig said. Police say the girl became upset and started crying when she saw Cooper hit Koch in the head.

The indictments also charge that Koch lied to police about Cooper's presence in the hotel room when she called, her knowledge of his last name, what kind of car he drove away in, and how the child sustained the injuries.

Bail was continued at $100,000, and Koch was ordered to stay at least 150 feet away from the child.

“She's very sad for her daughter,” Lovig said.