MCHENRY COUNTY, Ill. — The trial for two former Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) workers accused of child endangerment enters its second day Tuesday.
The multiple felony charges filed in Sept. 2020 against Andrew Polovin and Carlos Acosta stem from the April 2019 death of five-year-old Andrew “AJ” Freund of Crystal Lake. They are accused of having known Freund’s life was in danger four months earlier yet not taking action.
The bench trial began on Monday with the McHenry County State’s Attorney providing an opening statement for the prosecution, and separate attorneys providing statements for each of the defendants.
Following the opening statements, the prosecution began calling its witnesses. They included a Crystal Lake police officer, a doctor who examined Freund in Dec. 2018, a man who knew Freund’s father through Alcoholics Anonymous, and a retired DCFS supervisor.
The trial is expected to take approximately one week.
WGN plans to livestream day 2 of the trial within this story beginning at approximately 9:30 a.m.
Freund’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, pleaded guilty to her murder charge and was sentenced to 35 years. His father, Andrew Freund, pleaded guilty to an assortment of charges and was sentenced to 30 years.
