Man charged with severely beating child, woman in the Twin Cities

Posted on July 26, 2021

*Lance Cotton’s bond is $450,000, meaning he has to come up with $45,000 cash to be released from jail. (WJBC file photo)*

MCLEAN COUNTY – A local man is jailed in McLean County after a grand jury indicted him on charges he beat a child.

*Lance Cotton, 29. (Photo courtesy HOI ABC)*

Court documents say Lance Cotton, 29, beat the child repeatedly starting in December 2019, causing brain injuries and bone fractures. The child was younger than 13, according to court records.

Normal Police said the child abuse came to light after Cotton had been charged in another domestic violence case in which he allegedly hit a woman over the head with a wooden rod and strangled her between January 1 and March 1 of this year.

The grand jury on Wednesday indicted Cotton for aggravated battery of a child younger than 13, which is a Class X felony carrying a mandatory prison sentence of up to 30 years. Cotton was also indicted for aggravated domestic battery.

The earlier case filed in April charges Cotton with two counts of aggravated domestic battery and two misdemeanor counts of domestic battery for allegedly attacking the woman.

Cotton’s bond is $450,000, meaning he has to come up with $45,000 cash to be released from jail.

He’s scheduled to appear for a status hearing September 8.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…