A convicted felon allegedly battered a child after the girl tried to come to the aid of her mother who had been attacked by the suspect in Wadsworth during a domestic incident, prosecutors said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded on August 16 to the 13900 block of West Wadsworth Road in Wadsworth for a report of a domestic battery incident.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Windmoeller said the victim and Rolando Aranda, 53, of Wadsworth, live together and have a child in common.
The woman reported that Aranda, whom she is in a dating relationship with, had been abusing alcohol and drugs.
She said Aranda came home and went into their bedroom where she was sleeping and woke her up before throwing her to the ground, Windmoeller said.
Windmoeller said the couple’s juvenile daughter attempted to intervene and protect her mother but Aranda slapped the girl across the face.
Deputies saw visible injuries on both victims, Windmoeller said. The woman had a bruise on her right hip and the child had marks on her face near her ear.
The woman disclosed a history of prior unreported domestic violence incidents with Aranda. She also said he had pushed her to the ground the day prior, Windmoeller said.
Aranda has prior convictions for domestic battery in Lake County.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Garrett Miller said Aranda is a convicted felon with a prior conviction for possession of a firearm, for which he received a considerable sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Aranda was charged with four counts of domestic battery with a prior conviction, a Class 4 felony. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him pending trial.
“As to the factors for dangerousness, the Court should note that these are crimes of violence in the presence of and against a minor. The Defendant has a long history of charged and uncharged domestic violence, stretching back over three decades,” Windmoeller said.
Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the request during a detention hearing and remanded Aranda to the Lake County Jail, saying that no conditions of release could mitigate the threat he poses.
A defense attorney argued that the victim was the initial aggressor and that the child intervened to break up the fight.
Lake County Judge D. Christopher Lombardo later released Aranda during an arraignment hearing.
The judge ordered Aranda to be placed on Level 4 pre-trial supervision and not consume alcohol or drugs and be subject to random testing. He was also ordered not to contact the two victims and not to possess dangerous weapons.
Aranda is scheduled to appear in court again on November 3 for a case management conference.