Huntley man convicted of pulling hair out of child’s head sentenced to jail time, probation

A Huntley man convicted of pulling hair from a 6-year-old child’s head was sentenced to two years of probation and six weekends of intermittent jail time.

Said Bernal-Granados, 35, was found guilty by Judge Mark Gerhardt on May 23 of aggravated battery of a child younger than 13, a Class 3 felony, according to records in McHenry County court.

At Bernal-Granados’ sentencing hearing Friday, the judge also ordered him to complete 100 public service hours, take part in anger management and parenting classes, and have no contact with the child during his probation. Gerhardt ordered him to report to the county jail to begin his intermittent jail sentence at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.

Before sentencing Friday, defense attorney Robert Shindler argued for a new trial, which was denied. Shindler said police “lasered in on” Bernal-Granados, and there are no recordings of their interviews with him. Additionally, Shindler said, they did not consider other people or causes for the boy’s hair loss such as trichotillomania, a mental health disorder that causes people to have an uncontrollable urge to pull out their hair. Shindler also suggested maybe the bald patches were caused by a hat.

“Someone should have done further investigation,” Shindler said. This was “a rush to judgment.” He referred to witnesses who testified that they did not see swelling or bruising on the child’s head, which would indicate his hair was pulled out. Shindler 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 that it has been three years since the incident and he is a child who was under a lot of pressure.

“That’s why you consider video interviews,” she said, referring to recorded interviews that investigators had with the child, close to the time of the incident, shown at trial.

Marek also referred to photos that the judge saw showing patches of hair missing on the child’s head. The child never had hair loss before the incident or since, she said. Referring to the child’s courtroom testimony, Marek said the child “told us what he did. It is pretty clear it was one person who did this, and it was the defendant.”

Before being sentenced, Bernal-Grenados stood and apologized and asked that he be allowed probation so he could support and be with his children.

“I want to go home to my kids,” he said, adding that he will do whatever the judge orders. “You will never see me in this room again.”

Notably, in announcing the terms of his sentence, Gerhardt said he had heard things during the trial and “I am not convinced this is an isolated incident.”