Glendale Heights dad found not guilty of pistol-whipping son
A Glendale Heights man hopes he'll soon be reunited with his young son after being acquitted of striking the boy with the butt of a handgun.
A 12-member DuPage County jury deliberated for nearly three-and-a-half hours Wednesday evening before finding Ryan Rich, 35, not guilty of aggravated battery of a child and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
“We got the right verdict, and we got the just verdict,” defense attorney Deborah Bedsole said after the acquittal. “I know one man who is anxiously awaiting reuniting with his son, who he hasn't seen since Jan. 13, 2014.”
Rich stood stoic as the verdict was read, but Bedsole said she shared a “big hug” with Rich in private.
Prosecutors alleged Rich, angry with the boy for getting suspended from an after-school program and forcing him to miss a day of work, lashed out at the boy and struck him with the butt of a .40-caliber pistol.
The boy, now 6, testified Tuesday that ”My dad hit me right here with the bottom of his gun. Right here,” as he pointed to his head. The boy also described how blood ran down his head and face and, ultimately, into his mouth before Rich cleaned him up.
Prosecutors said the battery took place on the evening of Jan. 10, 2014, but the wound wasn't discovered until the boy's kindergarten teacher noticed the boy scratching the scab the following Monday. She then notified her supervisor, launching an investigation by police and the DuPage County Children's Advocacy center.
Rich, an IT manager for a Chicago real estate firm, testified Wednesday the he never struck his child, never handled his guns in front of the child and never harmed his son. He also claimed to not know how the child received what was described by his teacher as a “big scrape on his head.”
Rich himself stopped short of calling his son a liar. Bedsole, however, described the boy as an attention-starved child who told tall tales to get attention from adults.
“This child got caught telling a big whoppin' story. Why he told this story, I don't think we'll ever know,” Bedsole said during her closing argument. “The saddest part of this whole ordeal is that this child was forced to stick to a story that no evidence bore out. The story was never corroborated by any physical evidence.”
Rich is currently in the midst of divorcing his wife. She filed an emergency order of protection against Rich, which has prevented him from seeing his son since his arrest.
Bedsole said she expects the order to be rescinded “almost immediately.”
She said Rich, an avid shooter and member of at least one precision marksmanship club, expects to soon renew his FOID card and resume shooting.
“But I know for a fact that he will never, never, have a gun anywhere in the vicinity of his child to prevent any accidents,” Bedsole said. “You can take that to the bank.”