The conviction and sentencing of an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services employee – accused of not protecting a 5-year-old Crystal Lake boy from his abusive mother, who eventually killed him – was upheld by the Second District Appellate Court.

The higher court issued its ruling Monday, affirming the conviction of Carlos Acosta, a former IDCFS caseworker. Acosta, 60, of Woodstock, was convicted in 2023 in a rare prosecution targeting a caseworker accused of failing in his responsibilities. He was convicted on two counts of child endangerment, Class 3 felonies.

Acosta was the case worker for 5-year-old AJ Freund of Crystal Lake, whose story made national headlines in April 2019 when his parents first reported him missing. After a week of the community and police agencies from across the state searching for him, his father Andrew J. Freund Sr., admitted the boy was dead.

He led authorities to the child’s body wrapped in plastic, sealed in a tote and buried in a field near Woodstock. But, prior to the tote bag being moved to the field, Freund told authorities, he hid it in the basement of their home, according to courtroom testimony.

AJ died of craniocerebral trauma caused by multiple blunt force injuries, said Dr. Mark Witeck, the pathologist named in court records. The boy suffered severe swelling of the brain and blood in his lungs, and his head showed abrasions that matched the shower head in his bathroom.

Ultimately, Freund, 67, and AJ’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, 43, pleaded guilty in connection with his death. Cunningham entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Freund, a former attorney who met Cunningham when he represented her in a divorce, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a child, involuntary manslaughter and concealment of a homicidal death. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The criminal case that also held a DCFS case worker to blame in the child’s death - the result of on-going abuse by his mother who beat him the night of April 17, 2019, made him stand in a cold shower then put him to bed naked, cold and wet “marked a first-of-its-kind prosecution in Illinois – and the first successful prosecution of its kind in the country,“ prosecutors said in a news release issued Monday by the McHenry County State’s Attorneys Office. The conviction held “a DCFS child protection worker criminally accountable for failing to act on known signs of abuse.”

Randi Freese, who is now state’s attorney; Chief of Staff Ashley Romito; and then-State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally prosecuted Acosta. They argued that Acosta repeatedly failed in his obligations to investigate child abuse allegations involving AJ.

Their case, heard before a Lake County judge, focused on a Dec. 18, 2018 incident, just four months before his death. On that day, the Crystal Lake Police Department contacted Acosta after a doctor discovered a large and unexplained bruise on A.J.’s body, according to trial testimony.

“Despite clear indicators of abuse and a documented history of concerns, including rampant drug abuse, psychiatric hospitalizations, and squalor-like living conditions, Acosta failed to take appropriate investigative or protective action as required by DCFS protocols,” prosecutors said. “Instead, he returned AJ to the custody of his mother without implementing any safety measures.”

Acosta, who was briefly on the McHenry County Board, was found guilty of endangering the life and health of a child, a Class 3 felony, on Oct. 13, 2023, the day before what would have been AJ’s 10th birthday.

In his ruling, Judge George Strickland said if Acosta had referred the case for court intervention, Strickland “could not imagine any judge would not have taken this child out of the house.”

The trial court described Acosta’s investigative report as “actively dishonest and misleading.” It further characterized the report as “purposely containing material omissions” and found that Acosta “lied” about the lack of violence in the home, prosecutors said.

His supervisor, Andrew Polovin, 52, of Island Lake, also was charged, but was found not guilty. The judge said he could not determine what Polovin knew about Acosta’s efforts in the AJ case.

Acosta was sentenced on June 6, 2024, to six months in the McHenry County jail, followed by a period of probation which will end in December.

The appellate court concluded that Acosta “had a duty to protect A.J. and had sufficient information and authority to take action – indeed, was uniquely positioned to do so – yet knowingly placed A.J. in inherently dangerous circumstances.”

The court went on to say that the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office “proved beyond a reasonable doubt that [Acosta] knew that JoAnn was likely beating A.J. and certainly neglecting his care and that, despite knowing that A.J. was practically certain to be harmed, [Acosta] unconditionally returned A.J. to JoAnn’s care and closed the case.” Closing the case “was a proximate cause of A.J.’s death,” the higher court ruled.

The higher court’s ruling “affirms what the evidence showed from the beginning—that this was an entirely preventable tragedy,” Freese said. “Those entrusted with protecting children must be held to the highest standard. When that duty is ignored, the consequences can be irreversible. We remain committed to seeking justice and ensuring accountability in cases involving the most vulnerable members of our community.”

Acosta declined comment Tuesday.

Cunningham is serving her sentence at the Logan Correctional Facility in Lincoln. She is required to serve her full sentence and will be 72 years old when released. Under Illinois truth in sentencing laws Freund may serve just 18 of his 30 year sentence. He would be close to 80 when released.