Metro-east cop charged with battery used position of trust to ‘terrorize,’ judge says

An Illinois State Police agent from Edwardsville who was recently charged with battering children and an elderly woman used his position of trust as a police officer to “terrorize,” a judge said in a court order this week.

Madison County Associate Judge Ryan Jumper on Tuesday ordered Thomas M. Hatley, 46, be detained in jail pending his trial.

Hatley was charged Friday with the following:

• One count of aggravated domestic battery (Class 2 felony)
• Three counts of aggravated battery (Class 3 felony)
• Four counts of child endangerment (Class A misdemeanor)

He is accused of physically abusing two children under the age of 13 and a woman over the age of 60.

It is the Belleville News-Democrat’s policy not to name victims of abuse.

The allegations against Hatley include that he whipped the children repeatedly with a belt, put one of the children into a choke hold with his legs, forced one of the children to run on a treadmill until the child fell and vomited, and that he smacked the woman repeatedly in her face and eyes.

Jumper stated in his court order that the evidence the Madison County State’s Attorney’s office presented during Hatley’s pretrial detention hearing showed “callousness requiring greater protection than any condition but detention can protect against.”

Illinois ended cash bail last year. That system was replaced with hearings to determine whether someone who has been charged with a crime should be held in jail until their trial because they are a flight risk or because they pose a threat to public safety.

Hatley’s attorney David M. Fahrenkamp could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

Hatley has been placed on administrative leave without pay from the Illinois State Police, according to Melaney Arnold, a spokesperson for the agency.

His spouse, Ha T. Hatley, 37, also was charged with child endangerment, a misdemeanor. They were both arrested Friday morning at the Madison County Courthouse, according to a news release from Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine.