A Lake in the Hills mother accused of kidnapping her child from the Department of Children and Family Services earlier this week has been detained in Lake County jail for violating court imposed restrictions in a separate case.
Jessica L. Walsh, 29, was ordered held pending trial on a class class 3 felony charge of aggravated battery in a public place after she violated her pretrial release by abducting her 5-year-old daughter from DCFS earlier this week, court records show.
Walsh, along with husband Jeffrey S. Cook, 57, of Lake in the Hills, are charged with class 4 felony charges of child abduction for taking their daughter away from the DCFS Building in Woodstock Tuesday after learning they lost custody of the child.
Cook is also facing a charge of obstructing justice, a class four felony.
If found guilty at trial, they could be sentenced from one to three years in prison for abduction and obstructing justice.
The two were initially ordered released from jail under the Pretrial Release Act, but Walsh was ordered held in jail overnight from Wednesday to Thursday to ensure she appeared in court on the aggravated battery charge.
On Thursday, a McHenry County judge decided Walsh should remain in jail until trial for violating pretrial release conditions that were imposed on her while out of jail on the aggravated battery charge.
Cook remains free from jail but must adhere to the pretrial release conditions set forth previously that include he has no contact with the child, is monitored by court services, surrendered any FOID cards and passports and submit to a psychological evaluation within 29 days.
Walsh is due back in court June 17, court records show. Cook is due back June 26.
Woodstock Police were contacted Tuesday, May 28, saying a child had been abducted from the DCFS office at 113 Newell Street, police said in a news release Wednesday.
Officers responding to the scene were told by DCFS workers the abducted child was recently placed in the custody of DCFS by the courts, authorities said, but the parents took the child when they learned the courts had awarded custody of the child to agency, authorities said.
The news release states Walsh is the biological mother of the child and Cook is the father.
After abducting and leaving Woodstock with the child, detectives were able to contact Cook on his cell phone. However, the Lake in the Hills man was uncooperative when asked to return the child to DCFS, authorities said.
Woodstock Police contacted the Lake in the Hills Police Department who found Cook, Walsh and the child hiding inside their Lake in the Hills home, authorities said.
Cook and Walsh were taken into custody without incident and transported to McHenry County jail, authorities said.
The child was evaluated by Lake in the Hills paramedics before being transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure.