Palatine man charged with battering 3-month-old twins

A Palatine man who authorities say physically abused 3-month-old twins was ordered held on $2 million bail Thursday.

Kevin Paprocki, 41, is charged with aggravated battery to a child, a felony punishable by six to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors say the infants suffered rib fractures and hemorrhages that doctors at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago found were not consistent with accidental injury or genetic or metabolic causes, according to Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Jennifer Gates.

The babies' mother noticed a curve on one infant's left leg, Gates said, adding the mother reported the baby cried "inconsolably" on Dec. 23, 2019.

A checkup with the baby's pediatrician on Dec. 30 revealed a fracture to the left tibia and bleeding in the eye, Gates said. A full body skeletal survey on Jan. 6 revealed rib fractures that showed signs of healing, she said. The baby was hospitalized at Lurie Children's Hospital, and Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services was contacted after a fracture near the knee gave "a high indication of abuse caused by pulling of the leg," Gates said.

An examination of the other baby revealed a healing skull fracture, rib and thigh bone fractures and a hemorrhage to the left eye, she said.

Examinations "led doctors to opine the injuries were caused by nonaccidental trauma," she said, adding doctors indicated these types of injuries were "atypical of children this age who are not mobile."

The infants' preschool age sibling "was ruled out as a perpetrator of the injuries," Gates said. The children are now in the custody of relatives, she said.

Gates said Paprocki told police and DCFS he "feels responsible for the rib fractures."

Asked by a DCFS investigator to demonstrate how he squeezed the babies, he held the investigator so tight she had trouble drawing a full breath, Gates said.

On Jan. 13, Paprocki told Palatine police he would get frustrated and might have "overreacted and squeezed them too tightly in an attempt to get them to calm down," Gates said.

He also "admitted he regretted his actions," she said.

Doctors "concluded squeezing is typically the cause for the rib fractures," Gates said. Doctors further stated that "rib fractures are an indication of child abuse," she said.

Paprocki next appears in court on Feb. 7.