An Elgin man has received a stay of adjudication in a case that saw him accused of hitting a child and leaving bruises.
Adam Michael Crary, 28, pleaded guilty in March to malicious punishment of a child, a gross misdemeanor. In exchange for the plea, additional counts of third-degree assault-victim under four, a felony, and misdemeanor domestic assault were dismissed at Monday's sentencing.
With a stay of adjudication, the defendant pleads guilty, but the court doesn't "accept" the plea. When probation and its conditions are successfully completed, the charges are dismissed and the defendant's criminal record doesn't reflect a conviction. The arrest record remains.
Crary was ordered to complete domestic abuse counseling/treatment and a parenting class, as well as attend counseling. He was ordered to pay $585 in fines and placed on supervised probation for two years.
This investigation began late Dec. 7, when Rochester police were sent to a local emergency department for a child abuse complaint.
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A woman said the patient, a child under the age of four, had been alone with Crary for about three hours earlier that day. When the woman came home, Crary told her, "I did something bad," the complaint says, then admitted he'd hit the child and left marks on his face.
The child later said Crary "held me like this," while demonstrating with his hands cupped around his throat, court documents say.
When the woman checked the boy's body in more detail, she saw bruises on his neck and chest.
Crary told the woman he hit the child in the face, threw him in bed and may have held the boy down, reports say. The woman called social services that night.
The next day, Crary told investigators the child had been "throwing a fit," then started throwing things, slamming doors and running around screaming. When he couldn't calm the boy down, Crary grabbed him around the shoulders and chest to hold him still.
According to the reports, Crary also grabbed both sides of the boy's head to make him listen, and slapped the child with an open hand.
