Child Law

Respondent appealed from a circuit court adjudication of wardship of a minor child in a medical neglect case, arguing that the court improperly admitted a child abuse and proactive services report under the business records exception to the hearsay rules, that the finding of neglect at the adjudicatory hearing was against the manifest weight of the evidence, and that the court erred in finding that respondent violated an order of protection. The appellate court vacated the trial court orders finding the minor neglected and the respondent in violation of a protective order and remanded for a new adjudicatory hearing, explaining that it agreed with the respondent’s argument that the hearing was “rushed, vague, and incomplete” and that it did not constitute a true adversarial hearing where the State did not put on sufficient substantive evidence and where the circuit court ruled in favor of the State minutes after the admission of nearly 5,000 pages of medical records. (D.B. WALKER, concurring and VAN TINE, dissenting)

Respondent appealed from a trial court abuse and neglect order in which it found that respondent had sexually abused her child. On appeal, respondent argued that there was no corroborating evidence for the minor’s hearsay claims of abuse, as is required under the Juvenile Court Act. The appellate court agreed and reversed the portion of the findings that respondent sexually abused her son, vacated the court’s adjudication order, and remanded for further proceedings. (VAN TINE and McBRIDE, concurring)