Elgin grandma to speak for child abuse victims

The grandmother of a 2-year-old girl severely beaten at a St. Charles hotel last year will become a mouthpiece against child abuse today as she continues a quest to wrestle custody away from her daughter and the girl’s biological father.

Carrie Johnson, of Elgin, will speak at the third annual Child Abuse Rally and Vigil from 2 to 8 p.m. at 3793 S. Archer Ave. in Chicago. The goal of the rally is to foster a change in laws that make it harder for proven child abusers to have future contact with their children and make it easier for other relatives to gain custody.

It’s been three weeks since Johnson saw her granddaughter, Molly Koch. After surgery to repair a skull fracture, the girl is in the protective custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, Johnson said. Molly’s injuries are so severe she spent months in the hospital and is now in foster care for children with special needs through Easter Seals.

Meanwhile, Molly’s mother, Cathleen Koch, awaits a trial. She is charged with aggravated battery, misdemeanor child endangerment and felony obstruction of justice. Prosecutors believe Koch’s boyfriend, James Cooper, actually committed the beating.

Johnson fears what happens when the trial and any possible jail time is over for Cathleen Koch.

“The law states that if (a child) has a biological parent alive, no matter how bad they are, they will try to rehabilitate them,” Johnson said. “There are kids who don’t want to go back with their parents and are being made to go home with them anyway.”

Police reports say emergency personnel arrived at the Super 8 Hotel in St. Charles the morning of Oct. 27, 2010, and found Molly unconscious, severely beaten and not breathing.

Authorities believe Koch brought Molly to the hotel to visit Cooper, who had been living there for several months.

By then, the Department of Children and Family Services was investigating. It would be two days before Johnson saw her battered granddaughter.

Molly’s left arm was broken in two places. She had a dislocated shoulder. Her skull was so severely cracked from trauma that her brain was both swelling and dying.

Police located Cooper two days after the emergency call and arrested him. The 27-year-old Elburn man faces charges of aggravated battery to a child and three counts of endangering the life or health of a child.

In announcing the charges, the Kane County state’s attorney’s office pledged to seek the maximum punishment, up to 60 years in prison, because of the “exceptionally brutal, heinous and wantonly cruel” nature of the crimes.

Prosecutors said Koch did not strike Molly, but she was there when the beating occurred, did nothing to try to stop it and then lied to investigators about what happened.

Her defense attorney contends Koch also was a victim that day of domestic violence.

Johnson is among a half-dozen people who will share their personal stories today of child abuse and struggles to protect abused children.

“We’re killing children,” she said. “Dogs that have been abused have more rights.”