6 years for Arlington Heights woman convicted of child abuse
What a Cook County judge described as a family tragedy came to a resolution Thursday in a Rolling Meadows courtroom where a 20-year-old Arlington Heights woman pleaded guilty to biting the face and head of her two-month-old child and fracturing the baby's legs.
Judge Joel Greenblatt sentenced Rubi Cabrera to six years in prison in exchange for her guilty plea to charges of aggravated battery to a child, a Class X felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. She must complete at least 85 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.
“This case is a tragedy,” said Greenblatt. “It's tragic for your infant son, an innocent child of such tender years, to be subjected to such grievous injuries.”
The actions occurred last year between June and August in the family's Arlington Heights home, and they came to light on Aug. 19, 2011, when Cabrera and her husband took their infant son to a pediatrician, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber during the sentencing hearing. Noting injuries to the baby's face and head, the doctor reported the suspected child abuse to the Department of Children and Family Services, whose representatives transported the baby and his parents to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Gerber said. X-rays revealed fractures to the infant's skull and legs, said Gerber, while an examination revealed bite marks to his face, lips, head and arm.
Cabrera later told authorities that she became angry after seeing Facebook photographs of her husband with another woman and pulled her son by his legs off the bed causing his head to strike the headboard and the floor, Gerber said. She also admitted biting the baby, saying she became upset when he cried or refused to eat.
Defense attorney Morris Beard pointed out to the court that his client — a first-time mother — has no criminal background.
“She's taken responsibility for her actions,” he said. “This won't happen again.”
A somber Cabrera declined to make a statement.
Greenblatt concluded the hearing expressing hope for the family's future.
“It is my fervent desire and wish that the scars from the event, with the passage of time, will heal you all,” he said.