Child Abuse Charges Filed in Fox Lake After 11-Year-Old Found Injured

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. – A 34-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man are facing child abuse charges after an 11-year-old boy was found with visible injuries in Fox Lake, Illinois, on Friday morning, according to the Fox Lake Police Department [1].

What Happened

Police were called to the area of Nippersink Boulevard and Grand Avenue around 9:30 a.m. After a local business employee reported seeing a child wearing only underwear with blood on his face, as well as welts, bruises, and scratches across his body [1].

Officers found the boy and took him into protective custody, transporting him to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital for a medical evaluation [1]. They then went to the boy’s home in the 30 block of East Grand Avenue, where they took his mother, Pricilla Marshall, into custody [1].

Two other children, ages 1 and 2, were found unharmed inside the home and also taken into protective custody. Two additional brothers, who were at school at the time, were later brought to the Lake County Child Advocacy Center in Gurnee, along with the other children, for medical evaluations and forensic interviews [1]. All five children are now in the temporary care of an extended family member [1].

Investigation Reveals Years of Abuse

The investigation revealed that the 11-year-old boy had been abused for multiple years by Pricilla Marshall and her boyfriend, Cody Marion [1]. The boy was allegedly struck with household objects, had dish soap poured into his mouth and ears, and was prevented from attending school [1].

Following forensic interviews, police took Cody Marion into custody [1].

Charges Filed

Pricilla P. Marshall and Cody R. Marion have each been charged with aggravated battery to a child, domestic battery causing bodily harm, domestic battery involving physical contact, and endangering the life or health of a child [1]. Both were initially held at the Fox Lake Police Department before being transferred to the Lake County Jail [1].

Court Appearances

Cody Marion appeared in court on Monday for a detention hearing, where a Lake County judge granted the state’s petition to detain him until his next court date, scheduled for April 2 for a preliminary hearing [1]. A petition to detain Pricilla Marshall has also been filed, and she is due back in court on Tuesday [1].

About Fox Lake

Fox Lake is a village in Lake County, Illinois, and Burton Township, McHenry County, Illinois, located 50 miles north of Chicago [1]. The population was 10,978 as of the 2020 census [1].