Toddler recovering, but effects remain
CLINTON - Cameron Van Hyning, who started out life in a Russian orphanage, should have been able to look forward to a better life in America.
Instead, his adoptive father, Michael Van Hyning, beat him so severely in his first month in the United States that the boy may bear those scars for the rest of his life, said Cameron's new adoptive mother.
"Only a miracle will prevent him from having permanent damage from this injury," the woman said. "Cameron is forever changed by this vicious attack. He will never be the man he was intended to be."
Cameron's new adoptive mother, who asked that her identity not be revealed to protect the family's privacy, offered a victim impact statement Friday in the sentencing hearing of Michael Van Hyning.
Van Hyning, 25, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for three counts of aggravated domestic battery stemming from incidents in June 2001 in Clinton.
In her statement to the court, the woman noted that Cameron spent the first 13 months of his life in a Russian orphanage.
"Coming to the U.S. should have been an improvement. Instead, he spent it being punched in the face and chest until he could no longer breathe," the woman testified.
Cameron, who was 15 months old when the beatings occurred, suffered internal injuries, severe bruising and broken ribs, pelvis and arm while in the Van Hyning home, authorities said.
The boy who still is called Cameron requires extensive medical care related to the injuries, according to his new mother. Doctors have predicted significant developmental delays for the child, she said.
Shortly after Cameron was released from a Peoria hospital last July, he returned home with Michael Van Hyning's then-wife, Jodene Van Hyning. Both parents later surrendered their rights to the child who was placed in foster care with the new family.
That family, who lives in a small Central Illinois town, later adopted him.
Cameron has put on weight and is eating better, his mother said.
"In spite of everything, he's just a joy," she said.