Carlos J. Acosta, 57, of Woodstock, (left) went on trial in September and a judge found the former DCFS worker guilty of failing to do his job, leading up to the death of AJ Freund (right) in Crystal Lake in 2019. | Photo – Left: Gregory Shaver/Shaw Media (Pool); Photo – Right: Provided

A DCFS worker previously found guilty at trial of failing to protect AJ Freund from abuse at the hands of his mother has been sentenced to six months in McHenry County Jail.

Lake County Associate Judge George Strickland also required Carlos J. Acosta, 57, of Woodstock, to serve 30 months of probation, perform 200 hours of community service, and make a donation to the McHenry County Children’s Advocacy Center for not performing the duties of his job at DCFS, which led to the death of AJ Freund.

Acosta was immediately taken into custody by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office to begin fulfilling his jail sentence.

Acosta, along with Andrew R. Polovin, 51, of Island Lake, were charged in September 2020 with two counts of endangering the life of a child causing death, a Class 3 felony, and one count of reckless conduct causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony.

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The judge found Polovin not guilty of all three of his charges.

At trial, Strickland said he found Acosta was not a reliable reporter of what he was doing.

โ€œHe makes material omissions and I believe he did so on purpose where he would put an innocuous or benign reason for something happening he did and omitted what I concern the very obvious facts of this case,โ€ Strickland said previously.

Strickland outlined numerous steps Acosta failed to take in their investigation and several parts that they ignored or failed to investigate further.

The sentencing hearing started with motions for Strickland to reconsider his guilty finding at trial.

However, Stickland denied the request and moved on to sentencing.

Acosta made a brief statement during the sentencing where he said he has lived with the death of AJ Freund daily.

“I am not the lazy uncaring monster (McHenry County State’s Attorney) Patrick (Kenneally) has portrayed me to be,” Acosta said, adding he was a social worker for 20 years, a community activist, and an elected official.

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Strickland found Acosta guilty of two counts of child endangerment and not guilty of his third charge of reckless conduct on October 13 following a trial that began in September.

A grand jury indictment in 2020 charged Acosta, a DCFS child protection specialist, and Polovin, a DCFS child protection supervisor, with โ€œnot acting in good faithโ€ within their official capacities.

The indictment said the two, in a โ€œwillful or wanton manner,โ€ knowingly caused or permitted the life or health of Andrew Freund Jr. to be endangered and that was the proximate cause of the boyโ€™s death.

Acosta faced up to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He could have also been sentenced to probation.

Freund Jr., who was five years old and resided in Crystal Lake, was murdered in 2019 by his mother, JoAnn Cunningham.

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AJโ€™s parents, Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham, were both charged with first-degree murder on April 24, 2019, after an almost week-long search for the child.

Police found the young boyโ€™s body buried in a shallow grave in a field near Woodstock.

Cunninghamย pleaded guiltyย to first-degree murder and is serving 35 years in the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, Illinois.

Records show she is expected to be released on April 24, 2054. She entered the prison with over a year of credit for time served in the McHenry County jail awaiting trial.

Andrew Freund Sr. pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to aggravated battery to a child, a Class X felony, involuntary manslaughter, a Class 3 felony, and concealing a homicidal death, a Class 3 felony. He is serving 30 years in prison.