A judge will allow a key video to be played at trial after prosecutors say an unlicensed daycare facility owner in Crystal Lake strangled an 11-month-old baby, causing him to stop breathing, and broke his ribs.
The Crystal Lake Police Department said in April 2024 that they were notified by the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) about an aggravated battery to a child that occurred in the 1400 block of Woodscreek Circle in Crystal Lake.
Crystal Lake Deputy Police Chief Richard Neumann said an investigation was immediately initiated into the offense.
Investigators learned that the offender, identified as Ann Migliorato, 63, was operating an unlicensed childcare facility.
Additional evidence revealed that the offender physically injured a child who was in her care at the facility, Neumann said.
The child suffered non-life-threatening injuries that required medical care.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Migliorato battered the child, an 11-month-old boy, around 4 p.m. on April 11, 2024.
Migliorato applied pressure to the infant’s chest, causing a rib “or ribs” to be fractured, the complaint said.
A grand jury indictment said the child stopped breathing and went limp when Migliorato forcefully applied the pressure to his chest.
The complaint said Migliorato strangled the infant by applying pressure to his neck, causing a lack of oxygen.
McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito said a video of the incident was recorded by a 10-year-old, who believed a crime was in progress and used a cell phone to document what she was seeing.
The video shows Migliorato physically abusing and berating the infant victim, Romito said.
She was changing the boy’s diaper in front of several other children at the illegal daycare business that she was running out of her home, Romito said.
She said the infant lost consciousness and experienced broken ribs.
Neumann said Migliorato, who resides at the residence where the facility was being run, was taken into custody without incident.
Migliorato was charged with aggravated battery to a child causing great bodily harm, a Class X felony, and operating a child care facility without a license, a Class A misdemeanor.
She appeared before a judge and was ordered detained pending trial after prosecutors filed a petition to detain, court records show.
Prosecutors are seeking to admit the bystander video of the attack into evidence at trial.
Attorney Russell Luchtenburg, who is representing Migliorato, filed a motion to suppress evidence, saying that the video should be quashed as evidence at trial.
Luchtenburg argued the video was recorded without Migliorato’s knowledge and obtained through “illegal eavesdropping” in violation of state law.
He argued the video would be “greatly prejudiced” to his client if admitted into evidence.
Romito said in response to the motion that the recording was lawful and admissible.
The prosecutor said Migliorato’s words to a non-verbal infant are not a “private conversation” and the recording falls within the statutory exception for documenting suspected crimes, with the eavesdropping law having no application to the visual portion of the video.
McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis denied the motion to suppress the video at trial, finding that the video did not meet the “private conversation” definition in the eavesdropping statute.
A final status of trial date hearing is set for December 30.