Man sentenced to prison for kicking a 4 year-old boy on the face

By Edward Era Barbacena

 

A 24-year-old man has been sentenced to prison for kicking a four-year-old boy in the face at the Belmont CTA station in Lakeview earlier this year.

Calvin Williams pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery of a child under 13-years-old causing bodily harm. Prosecutors dropped three additional felonies in exchange for the four-year sentence.

The boy and his 20-year-old mother were on a Brown Line train that pulled into the station around 1:15 a.m. on February 12. When the doors opened, the woman noticed two men fighting on the platform, and she looked out the train doors to see what was going on, prosecutors said.

One of the men, Williams, walked onto the train and kicked her young son in the face, according to prosecutors.

The mother hit Williams on his shoulder and then continued striking him on the platform until police arrived to break them up, authorities said. Officers took Williams into custody.

An ambulance took the boy to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was given pain medication, but he did not appear to have severe injuries, according to prosecutors. A CPD spokesperson said he had a cut to his chin and facial bruising.

“This individual was four years old?” Judge Arthur Willis asked after hearing the allegations during Williams’ bond hearing in February. When prosecutors confirmed the boy’s age, Willis said he found that “extremely aggravating.”

Williams has four felony convictions, including two for burglary, one for robbery, and one for a 2015 hate crime, according to state records.

He will receive a 50% sentence reduction for good behavior and credit for 161 days he spent in custody before he pleaded guilty.