Mount Prospect woman gets probation for harming son

A Mount Prospect woman with no criminal background pleaded guilty to harming her then-six-month-old son last November after she could not get him to stop crying.

Cook County Judge Joel Greenblatt sentenced a visibly upset Veronica Perez to 24 months probation Thursday in exchange for her guilty plea to an amended charge of aggravated battery.

“I don’t know what you were thinking, ... You weren’t thinking,” said Greenblatt who also ordered Perez to comply with all Department of Children and Family Services recommendations.

Perez, 34, admitted to police that she threw her son to the floor on Nov. 14, 2011, said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Shilpa Patel. She and her husband then took the baby to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge where doctors diagnosed him with a fractured femur.

The baby has recovered and currently resides with a maternal aunt, Patel said.

Greenblatt noted on the record that juvenile court authorities are working to reunite the family.

Defense attorney Michael Norris called the incident an “aberration.”

Greenblatt said he hoped that was true.

“There is no excuse for your conduct,” he said. “I hope this is an aberration as Mr. Norris said and this will never occur again.”