Day care operator said, 'I hurt that baby,' agent testifies

Faced with a lie-detector test on whether she badly harmed an infant in her day care, Eva Walton began sobbing then looked up and said, "I hurt that baby," a U.S. Secret Service agent testified Thursday.

Agent Bradley Beeler told jurors deciding Walton's fate that he was prepping her for a polygraph exam May 26, 2005, when she broke down and confessed to causing injuries to the 10-week-old that included a fractured skull, at least 19 rib fractures, a broken leg, bleeding inside the skull and a burned tongue.

"She stated that when she was burping (the boy), she got frustrated and grabbed him hard," Beeler said. "At that time she said she heard small popping noises.

"She quoted herself saying, 'Oh my God, what have I done?'"

Beeler's testimony closed the second day of Walton's trial on a charge of aggravated battery to a child stemming from injuries the boy suffered about the time he was in her home-based day care in May 2005.

Walton, 34, of Huntley, has denied the charge, which could land her in prison for six to 30 years if she is found guilty.

Beeler, at the time assigned to the Secret Service's Chicago office, traveled to Huntley to assist in the investigation into the infant's injuries at a time when Walton, as well as the boy's parents, were considered suspects. Federal law requires the agency to assist, if asked, in any investigation involving harm to a child.

Now assigned to protect former President George H. W. Bush, Beeler is expected to spend several more hours on the witness stand Friday facing an intense cross-examination from Walton attorney Mark Gummerson.

Her defense alleges Beeler duped Walton into giving a false confession through what he told her was a pretest to the lie-detector exam.

Also Thursday, a pair of Huntley police officers testified that they saw Walton after her meeting with Beeler and she indicated she had confessed.

"I asked her if she felt better now that she's told the truth, and she nodded," Sgt. Mike Hewitt said.

But on cross-examination, Hewitt admitted that he made no mention of that exchange in his report that day and did not create a report on it until meeting with McHenry County prosecutors to discuss the case nearly three months later.

The officers also testified under defense questioning that they chose not to videotape Walton's statement, even though equipment to do so was readily available.