nwherald.com on January 11, 2012 reported that a Johnsburg woman was acquitted on Tuesday of battering a 3-year-old disabled girl whom she had been caring for as a nurse. Annette M. Freels, 44, had been accused of shaking the arm of and cussing at the girl, who was born 13 weeks premature and now is ventilator-dependent for 16 hours a day. At the defendant's request, the trial was heard by McHenry County Judge Joseph Condon, rather than a jury. Condon issued a directed finding, which means that the acquittal came at the close of the prosecution's case before the defense called any witnesses. Freels' supporters began clapping after the verdict was issued, and Freels began crying.

The original article can be found at nwherald.com.