Carpentersville trustee avoids jail time for domestic battery convictions

The political future of Carpentersville Trustee Paul Humpfer appears uncertain despite a Kane County judge Wednesday sparing him jail time for hitting his wife with a baseball bat.

"I don't know," Humpfer, 44, said when asked after sentencing if he would remain on the village board. "I am still trying to digest this."

Kane County Judge James Hallock sentenced Humpfer to one year of conditional discharge on four misdemeanor domestic battery convictions stemming from a May 2007 altercation with his wife, Jacqueline.

The court rejected prosecutors' request to send Humpfer to the Kane County jail for 60 days.

Humpfer also must pay a $1,000 fine, attend a 26-week domestic violence counseling course, refrain from contacting his wife and undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Humpfer was visibly upset with the sentence and the judge's earlier denial of a new trial.

In a statement to the court, Humpfer cleared his throat as he vehemently denied striking his wife with a bat.

"I did not commit this crime," said Humpfer, adding that he never prodded, hit or swung a bat at his wife. "I am disappointed with the ruling and I am disappointed with the way it turned out." Humpfer said his attorney, Patrick Crimmins, would file an appeal.

The sentence comes more than seven months after Hallock found Humpfer guilty on charges related to a May 2007 incident in the couple's Carpentersville home.

The charges alleged Humpfer struck his wife with a baseball bat after learning she had a sexual relationship with the son of a fellow village board member the same night Humpfer was sworn in on the village board.

Numerous motions for a retrial delayed sentencing a handful of times in the past seven months, including claims of impropriety by Hallock and an ineffective defense by Humpfer's attorney.