Man pleads guilty to battery in Aurora child abduction case

One of two brothers who were accused of kidnapping a child in Aurora in 2024 has pleaded guilty to aggravated battery.

Christopher Bearden, 37, of California, pleaded guilty July 14 to aggravated battery of a person 60 or older, according to DuPage County court records.

He was sentenced to four years in prison. Bearden had to serve at least 50% before being eligible for parole, but he was given credit for the almost two years he spent in the DuPage jail awaiting trial, plus for programs he took while in jail. State prison records indicate that Bearden is now on parole.

Bearden is the uncle of an 8-year-old boy who was staying at a home in Aurora with his mother, maternal grandmother, a half-sister and the grandmother’s 70-year-old boyfriend.

Authorities say that around 10:15 p.m. on July 29, 2024, Christopher Bearden, his brother Joshua Bearden and their mother, Lisa Bearden, went to the home.

Joshua Bearden is the father of the 8-year-old boy.

Prosecutors say Joshua Bearden and Christopher Bearden attacked the child’s mother and grandmother, pushing their way into the house.

The boyfriend was pulled down some stairs, hit and kicked.

Christopher Bearden carried the child out to a waiting vehicle driven by Lisa Bearden. She drove to a hotel in Aurora, and the brothers drove off with the boy.

They were stopped several hours later in southwestern Indiana.

Lisa Bearden, who lives in Alabama, pleaded guilty in January to felony child abduction — parent without custody.

Joshua Bearden pleaded guilty in February to aggravated battery of a person 60 or older.