22.02.12
There was no timeouts when I was small, the 31-year-old Wood Dale man said. I didnt know spanking a kid with a belt was against the law.
Judge Blanche Hill Fawell called the victims injuries sickening as she slapped Westmoreland with a 32-year prison term on his second conviction for battering a child.
While delivering the ruling, she held up a photo of cuts and bruises covering the boys body and spoke directly to the defendant.
This is so far beyond anyones concept of discipline, Fawell said. Even more disgusting to me is the fact that you dont seem to have any feeling for what youve done.
Westmoreland was charged in late January after a neighbor heard the boy being repeatedly struck and crying out, I dont want to die.
On earlier occasions, Westmoreland also burned the child in hot water and forced him to eat his own feces if he had an accident, the boys foster mother testified.
(He) still has nightmares, she said of the boy, who also is in physical therapy. He still wets his pants if he thinks hes in trouble.
Source: Chicago Daily Herald