Father gets 28 years for abuse of underage mom, infant son

A former Lombard man was sentenced Friday to 28 years in prison for permanently disabling the infant son he had with an underage girl.

Maurice U. Hall Jr., 32, professed his love for his disabled son and denied inflicting the debilitating injuries to the 8-week-old boy.

But DuPage Circuit Judge Robert Anderson cited "overwhelming" evidence of Hall's guilt in meting out the long prison term.

A jury also didn't believe Hall. After two hours of deliberations, members convicted him Dec. 18 of aggravated battery of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse for his relationship with the baby's mother.

Prosecutors said Hall had a sexual relationship with the girl -- with her family's blessing -- since she was 14. She gave birth at 15. On Feb. 11, 2006, the couple brought the 2-month-old injured boy, named Jeremiah, to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. The child later was transferred to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The boy still cannot walk, talk, roll over, stand or feed himself and is blind. He is being raised in a foster home. The jury watched a video of him during the one-week trial.

"This will be his burden his entire life," prosecutor Liam Brennan said.

He and prosecutor Alex McGimpsey argued the child suffered the traumatic injuries when Hall lost his temper and violently shook his son. Hall initially confessed he "just snapped" in a videotaped police interview. He later said he was covering for his girlfriend.

The defense, Elizabeth Reed and Brett Cummins, both senior assistant public defenders, point to the young mother as the real abuser. Reed also noted Hall did not have a criminal history.

"Maurice was clearly not ready for a baby," she said. "He's never had a violent moment ever before and just did not know how to deal with it all."

The boy's mother also initially confessed in a videotaped interview, but she later recanted and said Hall persuaded her to take the rap because he said she was a juvenile and wouldn't get in as much trouble.

She testified; Hall did not. To try to explain the defendant's control over the young girl, prosecutors told jurors of a written contract she signed when the couple moved in together in which Hall outlined rules and specific sex acts. If she didn't hold up her end of the bargain, according to the contract, she had to pay him a fine.

Hall has remained in jail on a $1 million bond since his February 2006 arrest. He must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life after his release from prison.