A Huntley man found guilty of pulling hair from a six-year-old child’s head has been sentenced to two years’ probation and six weeks’ intermittent imprisonment.
According to McHenry County court records, Syed Bernal-Granados, 35, was found guilty by Judge Mark Gerhardt on May 23 of aggravated assault of a child under 13, a third-degree felony. I received it.
At Bernal Granados’ sentencing hearing on Friday, the judge also ordered him to complete 100 hours of official work, attend anger management and parenting classes, and have no contact with children while on probation. Mr. Gerhardt ordered him to report to the county jail to begin his intermittent prison sentence on Friday, October 4 at 7 p.m.
Before Friday’s sentencing, defense attorney Robert Schindler’s request for a new trial was denied. Schindler said police “shot a laser beam” at Bernal Granados, but there is no record of any interrogation with him. Additionally, Schindler said he did not take into account other people or the cause of the boy’s hair loss, such as trichotillomania, a mental illness that causes an irresistible urge to pull out hair. Schindler also suggested that the bald spots may be caused by hats.
“Someone should have done more investigation,” Schindler said. This was a “rush to judgment.” He referred to a witness who testified that there was no swelling or bruising on the child’s head to indicate that the hair had been pulled out. Schindler also tried to poke holes in the child’s testimony, which he said was inconsistent.
But Assistant State’s Attorney Maria Marek pushed back, saying he was a child under a lot of pressure three years after the incident.
“That’s why we’re looking at video interviews,” she said, referring to a recorded interview shown at trial that investigators conducted with the child near the time of the incident.
Malek also referred to a photo the judge saw that showed patches of hair on the child’s head. She said the child had never lost her hair before or after the incident. Referring to the child’s court testimony, Malek said the child “told us what he had done.” It is clear that one person did this and that is the defendant. ”
Before sentencing, Bernal Grenados stood up and apologized, asking to be granted probation so he could support and be with his children.
“I want to go home to my kids,” he said, adding that he would do whatever the judge ordered. “You’ll never see me in this room again.”
Notably, when Gerhardt announced the sentence, he said he had heard it during the trial and that he was “not convinced that this was an isolated incident.”
