May 15--A West Side man was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail Saturday after daycare workers found bruises on the body of a young boy for whom he was caring, prosecutors said.
Those bruises led the workers to have the 2-year-old boy hospitalized, where doctors discovered the child suffered from a lacerated liver, an inflamed pancreas, muscle damage and bruising on much of his body, including his genitals, according to prosecutors and police.
The internal injuries could have been fatal to the child if not caught by doctors in time, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Brian Whang said at a bond hearing for Jalil R. King at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building.
The boy had been in the care of King, the boyfriend of the boy's mother, when the man left the boy and another child at a daycare center on the city's West Side on April 16, Whang told the court.
After arriving, the boy began vomiting violently, prompting the workers to remove his shirt to clean it, prosecutors said. After removing his shirt, they noticed "hand-shaped bruises" on his body and took him to an area hospital, Whang said.
Police arrested King in the parking lot of a University Village fast food restaurant earlier this week after he tried to arrange a meeting with the boy's mother there, according to an arrest report.
King, 23, of the 3000 block of West Madison Street, was charged with aggravated battery and ordered held by Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr.
If released on bail, King won't be permitted to contact the boy's family or the complaining witnesses, he's barred from using drugs or alcohol and isn't allowed to have firearms.
King has two previous drug convictions, prosecutors said.
wlee@tribpub.com
Twitter: @MidNoirCowboy
