Wonder Lake man accused of punching, throwing child to the ground for wearing wrong pants

A Wonder Lake man has been accused of punching a 7-year-old with special needs in the stomach, slapping him and throwing him to the ground for wearing the wrong pants, according to McHenry County prosecutors.

Kyle McCullough, 31, is charged with aggravated battery of a child younger than 13 causing great bodily harm, a Class 3 felony, court records show. He also is charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic battery, according to the criminal complaint filed in the McHenry County court.

During an initial court hearing last week, Judge Cynthia Lamb detained McCullough pretrial in the county jail, saying he is a threat, especially to the child.

McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Tarczon argued for McCullough’s detention, saying he is dangerous. The child had “several injuries,” the result of “multiple acts of abuse over wearing the wrong pants,” Tarczon said.

The prosecutor said McCullough then told the child to lie and say the injuries were the result of him tripping. The child made statements that he felt safe when he runs to the school bus and “only feels safe at school,” Tarczon said; he also said McCullough admitted to police he slapped the child.

Assistant Public Defender David Geisinger argued for McCullough’s release with conditions, saying he could be placed on a GPS monitor, given an exclusion area and be issued a no-contact order. He also said McCullough would be staying with family in Lake County, where he also works, and away from the child.

But Tarczon countered that McCullough could not be trusted and that his alleged actions – abusing a “vulnerable” child, then telling him to lie – shows he is “conniving and abusive.”

“He’s already shown a willingness to manipulate a 7-year-old child to save his own skin,” the prosecutor said.

Geisinger said the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is involved in the case, and the child is with his mother. Additionally, Geisinger said McCullough scored low on a dangerousness risk assessment and there is nothing on his record to imply he won’t comply with conditions if released.

Lamb wrote in the detention order that McCullough “poses a real and present threat to any person or persons in the community.”

Lamb said she uses the word “disciplining” loosely when noting McCullough is accused of punching, slapping and throwing the child to the ground for “wearing the wrong pair of pants ... leaving injuries which were observed by school staff at the victim’s school, where the victim additionally complained of a sore neck from the defendant throwing him.”