Convicted child abuser, girlfriend charged after injured toddler is taken to hospital

A Madison County couple faces multiple felony child abuse charges in connection with the beating of a 2-year-old boy.

According to authorities, Michael Wood, 27, of Alton, has been charged with physically abusing the child of Devin Wills, 23, of East Alton.

Wood was previously convicted of child abuse in 2007 and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released in July and was on parole at the time of the latest allegations.

According to police reports, Wills’ son was taken to an Alton hospital with bruising to the face, back of his head and groin. Hospital workers contacted police after seeing the injuries.

The attacks allegedly happened May 18-20 in East Alton.

Wills and Wood both were charged with three felony counts of aggravated battery of a child. Two are class X counts, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and one is a class 3 count.

Police said Wills was charged because she did nothing to protect her son from Wood’s attack.

In the previous case, Wood was convicted of injuring a child younger than 13 by shaking, striking and dropping the victim. He also threw the child against a door, according to court records. The attack caused the child great bodily harm, but the injuries were not specified in the records.

This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 7:35 AM with the headline "Convicted child abuser, girlfriend charged after injured toddler is taken to hospital."