By Jim Hagerty
Reporter

ROCKFORD – A Rockford man has been indicted on additional charges in a 2019 child-abuse case.

Trenton Higgins, 19, is now charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a child under the age 13 causing great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement. He also faces a single count of aggravated battery to a child under the age of 13.

Higgins was initially indicted in January but authorities say information gleaned during an ongoing investigation warranted more allegations.

“Rockford city police detectives learned that after medical experts examined the child and the child’s medical records, they determined that the child sustained several bruises as well as internal injuries and trauma to his abdomen and head,” Winnebago County State’s Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross said in a release.

Aggravated battery to a child under the age of 13 causing great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement is a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by three years of parole.

Aggravated battery to a child under the age of 13 is a Class 3 felony with a sentencing range of two to five years behind bars.

Charges against Higgins stem from an incident last December, when detectives  responded to a local hospital where a baby had burns and other injuries. Higgins was in a domestic relationship with the child’s mother. He’s currently lodged in the Winnebago County Jail and due in court July 7.