An appeals court ruled against a mother who claimed her three-year prison sentence was “excessive” after her young child was found “severely malnourished” in Harvard and days from death.
The Harvard Police Department and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) responded on November 17, 2020, to the 100 block of Shawnee Lane for a well-being check.
Police officials said at the time that officers responded to assist DCFS in a child neglect investigation.
Officers learned that a young child had been taken to Mercy Hospital in Walworth, Wisconsin, and was severely malnourished, police officials said.
The child was later transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for further treatment.
The child’s parents, Margaret A. Wisner, 52, and William S. Wisner, 44, were both charged in December 2020 with aggravated domestic battery, reckless conduct causing great bodily harm and child endangerment.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County court said Margaret Wisner and William Wisner caused their 6-year-old to become “severely malnourished after failing to provide adequate nutrition and medical care.”
The neglect reportedly went on for approximately two years, the complaint said.
Prosecutors later filed numerous additional charges against the couple.
A total of 12 charges of aggravated battery, child endangerment, aggravated domestic battery and reckless conduct were filed against each of them.
Some of the charges were Class X felonies, which are the most serious felonies in Illinois besides murder.
In April 2019, Margaret Wisner created a GoFundMe account titled “Help the Wisner family,” saying that she had cervical cancer.
The post detailed her medical journey and mentioned her three children, who she said at the time were ages 21, 11, and 5.
Wisner said in the post that her oldest son and youngest son both have autism and that her middle son has Asperger’s Syndrome.
At the time of the couple’s arrest, McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Ken Hudson said that when the mother took her 6-year-old son to the hospital in Walworth, Wisconsin, he weighed 32 pounds, the Northwest Herald reported.
While the boy was in the hospital, he lost some water weight and weighed in at 27 pounds, which is close to the size of a 2-year-old or 3-year-old.
Hudson said Wisner claimed her son was a “finicky eater” and would only eat Cheez-It crackers.
She also claimed she did not bring him in for care sooner because she was afraid of COVID-19, the Herald reported.
Hudson also said that doctors reported the child was possibly days from death when they first saw him.
Court records show William Wisner pleaded guilty in May 2024 to one count of reckless conduct causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony, in exchange for the rest of his charges being dismissed.
The guilty plea was a blind plea and McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt later sentenced Wisner to 180 days in jail and two years of probation.
A bench trial began in Margaret Wisner’s case in September 2023 and lasted four days.
Margaret Wisner was found guilty of three counts of reckless conduct causing great bodily harm, a Class 4 felony. She was found not guilty on the other charges.
A sentencing hearing was held in March 2024 and Gerhardt sentenced the woman to three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on each of the three charges, with the sentences to be served concurrently.
She later filed an appeal with the Illinois Second District Appellate Court.
Wisner challenged the sufficiency of the evidence and argued that her sentences were excessive.
The appeals court issued a 26-page opinion ruling against Wisner late last month and affirming the lower court’s conviction and sentence.
The appeals court said that there was “abundant evidence” against Wisner to convict her beyond a reasonable doubt and called her out for “victim blaming.”
The ruling said that Wisner failed to file a written post-sentencing motion raising the issue about her excessive sentence claim and she also did not include a complete record for the appeals court to review.
“Thus, because defendant effectively asks that we reweigh the sentencing factors while failing to provide the tools to us to review the trial court’s exercise of discretion, we reject her claim of sentencing error. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s judgment in passing sentence,” the ruling said.
Wisner remains held in the Illinois Department of Corrections and is set to be released on parole on July 3.