CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- McHenry County prosecutors are having a tough time getting an internal state report on the handling of a child abuse case that eventually ended in the death of a Crystal Lake boy.
Five-year old AJ Freund was found dead last year - the result of abuse by his mother and father who are now in prison. But, two former employees of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Service are being tried by McHenry County prosecutors for their roles in investigating a large bruise on the boy a few months before he died.
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The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s office is seeking the report, generated as part of an investigation by the department’s Office of Inspector General, which looked into Freund’s former DCFS caseworker Carlos Acosta, 54, and his supervisor Andrew Polovin, 48.
But, according to the Northwest Herald, an attorney for DCFS’ office of Inspector General is trying to keep the report under wraps and away from prosecutors.
Attorney Michelle Camp told McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt her office would be filing a motion based on the Garrity Law in response to the state’s subpoena filed in November.
The Garrity Law protects public employees from being compelled to incriminate themselves during investigatory interviews conducted by their employers.This is a protection which stems from the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution that declares the government cannot compel a person to be a witness against him or herself, according to garrityrights.org.
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At the conclusion of the Inspector General’s investigation both Acosta and Polovin were fired from their jobs, and each has been subsequently charged criminally in Freund’s death. Both have pleaded not guilty.