Fox Lake woman to remain in jail, accused of beating 11-year-old son for years

A Lake County judge ordered a Fox Lake woman to remain behind bars on Tuesday, following her arrest on charges accusing her of abusing her 11-year-old son for years.

Priscilla Marshall, 34, showed no emotion while an assistant state's attorney read the gruesome details, saying Marshall managed to keep the abuse a secret from neighbors and her son's school for years.

Prosecutors said the boy was living in a house of horrors and endured years of systematic abuse.

Marshall and the boy's stepfather, 35-year-old Cody Marion, both have been charged with one count of aggravated battery to a child, two counts of domestic battery, and one count of child endangerment. A judge ordered Marion to be held in jail while he awaits trial during a separate hearing on Monday.

Marion cried in court as his defense attorneys blamed Marshall for the abuse, but a judge said Marion knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it.

Prosecutors said, on Friday, Marshall punched her 11-year-old son in the face, giving him a bloody nose, and poured dish soap down his mouth and into his ear.

The boy ran away and went to a nearby flower shop to get help.

"To think of a child having to flee their own parents is absolutely heartbreaking, and I would tell anyone abusing their child that you will face serious consequences when we find you,"  Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said.

At Marshall's detention hearing, prosecutors detailed years of abuse, with the child force to clean the house and pick up trash. They said his mother repeatedly punched him; hit him with extension cords, metal spatulas, and spoons; threatened to stab him; and forced him to write in a notebook as punishment, telling him to write over and over, "you're not a loved child, everybody hates you."

Marshall also allegedly forced the child's older brother to beat him up by choking him, punching him, and slamming him to the ground.

While Marion hasn't been accused of physically abusing the boy, prosecutors said he knew Marshall was beating the boy, and would tell him he deserved it and should "just take it."

Prosecutors said the abuse began in 2023, when the boy showed up at school with a mark on his face.

The Lake County Sheriff's office confirmed that they and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigated at the time, but during an interview, the boy did not disclose any abuse, so the investigation did not result in criminal charges.

Prosecutors said after he escaped the home, the boy made a statement that, if DCFS got involved, it would get worse for him.

"Children must be protected with every single tool we have. Our office will seek to detain every person who chooses to abuse members of our most vulnerable population," Rinehart said.

A neighbor who lives in the apartment below the couple said he never heard any abuse, just children playing.

"I have never heard anything, like, out of the ordinary. They have five kids. It sounds like a bowling alley up there, like, little kids running around all the time. Other than that, I am shocked hear that this is being said," Patrick McSherry said.

Marshall's defense attorney said she suffers from depression and anxiety, and asked the judge to release her on electronic monitoring so she could get a mental health evaluation, but that request was denied.

The boy has two older brothers, ages 13 and 7, and two younger sisters, ages 3 and 1. All five children have been placed in protective custody. Marshall and Marion have been ordered not to have any contact with them or each other until further notice.