Jury finds Huntley day-care operator not guilty

Two Huntley mothers wept as they left the McHenry County courthouse Tuesday night: one because she was going home to her children after arriving at the courthouse wondering whether she'd next see them from behind bars, the other because the justice she sought for her child was not coming.

A jury deliberated about 71/2 hours Tuesday before declaring former day-care owner Eva M. Walton not guilty of allegations she severely abused an infant in her care nearly four years ago.

Walton, 34, burst into tears and embraced one of her attorneys as Judge Joseph Condon read the verdict acquitting her of aggravated battery to a child. Her supporters in the courtroom shared hugs; one dropped to her knees in prayer.

The parents of the boy Walton was charged with abusing appeared stunned and incredulous. They later left the courthouse without comment.

The verdict ends a seven-day trial into allegations Walton was responsible for injuries - including a fractured skull, bleeding inside the head, a broken leg and numerous rib fractures - suffered by a 10-week-old boy in May 2005, about the time he started going to her home-based day care.

The boy, now 4, does not suffer any permanent or lingering effects of the incident.

Jurors declined to answer questions about their decision.

Walton, who faced six to 30 years in prison if convicted, also declined to comment, but defense attorney Mark Gummerson said she was grateful to the jury.

"(The jury) listened. The evidence just wasn't there," Gummerson said. "The system works."

Jurors acquitted Walton despite evidence she wrote a statement admitting she harmed the boy. Walton testified Monday that she wrote the statement at the request of a federal agent who told her it was part of preparations for a lie-detector test.

During closing arguments Tuesday, Walton's defense attacked the credibility of U.S. Secret Service Agent Brad Beeler, who last week testified that Walton confessed when he met with her for a polygraph examination about two weeks after the boy's injuries were discovered.

Gummerson said the agent, who was alone with Walton at the time, duped her into a false confession by asking her to copy incriminating statements he had written out for her under the guise of the lie-detector proceedings.

"It's scary that they want you to convict on that type of evidence," Gummerson said. "It is scary and it's a travesty."

The case's lead prosecutor called Gummerson's argument a "defense of desperation," telling jurors the evidence doesn't support claims police tricked Walton into a false confession, nor would Beeler have any motive to do so.

"Agent Beeler is not going to risk his career to falsely implicate an innocent woman," said Nichole Owens, criminal division chief for the McHenry County state's attorney.

Owens also disputed defense arguments that the prosecution sought to cover up weaknesses in its case by evoking sympathy for the boy's suffering.

"We are not asking for sympathy," she said. "We are asking for justice."

Verdict: Secret Service agent's credibility questioned