Authorities: Aurora man burned son's hands for not punching ill older brother in head
An Aurora man has been charged with burning his 5-year-old son's hands with hot water after the boy refused to punch his older brother who suffers from a brain tumor.
Ross Hunt, 30, of the 2000 block of West Illinois Avenue, is charged with three counts of aggravated battery of a child under the age of 13; three counts of domestic battery of a child; and two counts of endangering the life, health or safety of a child.
The charges were filed Aug. 17. Bail was set at $50,000 Tuesday morning by Kane County Judge Joseph Grady.
"It's horrendous. It's sad," Assistant State's Attorney Adam Katz told Grady at the bail hearing.
According to an Aurora Police Department report, someone notified them Jan. 13 of the alleged burning.
The report says the two boys had been placed with their father Dec. 26, 2019, by a Will County court.
Police learned the older son, then 6, has a brain tumor that required ongoing treatment, that he has a shunt in his brain, and that he has to use a walker or other support to walk. He also vomits frequently when eating certain foods, the report stated.
The younger boy said Hunt squeezed the older boy's shoulders when he vomited and asked him why he can't stop. The younger boy said he was then asked to punch his brother in the head. When he refused, Hunt took the boy to a bathroom and held his hands under hot water, according to the police report.
The younger boy told police he and his brother were "too scared to tell the truth" when "a lady" asked them what happened, because she asked them in front of Hunt. Police say they confirmed with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the boys' guardian ad litem the questioning had happened with Hunt present or nearby.
The older boy said when he tried to tell his father's live-in girlfriend about his brother's hands being burned, Hunt told him to "shut up" and put his hand over the boy's mouth.
The boys' mother, maternal and paternal grandmothers, and maternal and paternal aunts reported seeing injuries on the boys, according to the police report
Hunt's attorney, Miriam Szatrowski, told Grady the two boys are now in foster care. Grady granted Szatrowski's request that Hunt be allowed to continue visiting his sons with DCFS supervision, as has been ordered by a Will County judge. The attorney told Grady the visits have "gone well" and Hunt is not a danger to his children.