Abuse case takes 3 years
Defendant remained free despite many allegations, including killing dog in front of child
Staff writer
Charges against a Hillsboro man accused of multiple counts of abuse, including killing the family dog in front of his child, have taken three years to make it to court because of investigative and prosecutorial delays.
The man was never taken into custody during that time.
Alleged incidents between Isaac Gene Hilliard, 26, Hillsboro, and his former wife include pushing her out of a moving car, attempting to suffocate her with a pillow, shoving her into objects, ripping a tank top and necklace off her, hitting her, and knocking her to the ground.
Court documents also allege that Hilliard beat their 6-year-old son with a belt until he was bruised and raw, locked his wife and son outside in extreme heat, and would not allow the son to go to school.
Between those incidents and charges being filed, Hilliard’s wife got a restraining order against him Aug. 7, 2014, and got sole custody of the child Nov. 12, 2014.
The couple married in May 2011 and divorced in January 2013. Incidents from which charges arose occurred between May 1 and Aug. 7, 2014.
Hillsboro police chief Dan Kinning, who testified at the Nov. 3, 2014, hearing for custody of the child, said that although the incidents were reported during 2014, his department’s investigation was hindered by inability to locate Hilliard and difficulty contacting Hilliard’s former wife.
The department forwarded information to the county attorney’s office Oct. 25, 2016.
County attorney Courtney Boehm said the office had a backlog of unfiled criminal cases when she was elected.
In February, Boehm filed a charge of misdemeanor battery against Hilliard. It stemmed from a July 1, 2014, incident with his son.
That charge was dismissed Feb. 27 after Hilliard’s former wife spoke to the county attorney’s office about other incidents not reflected in the original filing.
Boehm said she also sent Hilliard’s former wife back to Hillsboro police department to provide more information.
“We weren’t aware of hardly any of this,” Kinning said. “They kept it pretty quiet.”
In the first of two cases filed last month against Hilliard, he was charged with five counts of domestic battery, four counts of endangering a child, and criminal restraint. All are misdemeanors.
In the second case, Hilliard is charged with child abuse, a felony.