by Attorney Eric D. PuryearIllinois law defines the crime of Heinous Battery in 720 ILCS 5/12-4.1 as the crime a person who, in committing a battery, knowingly causes severe and permanent disability, great bodily harm or disfigurement by means of a caustic or flammable substance, a poisonous gas, a deadly biological or chemical contaminant or agent, a radioactive substance, or a bomb or explosive compound commits heinous battery.
Heinous Battery is a Class X felony in the state of Illinois, and carries a prison term of at least 6 years but not more than 45 for those convicted of the crime.
Heinous battery charges are often filed in cases where a person is accused of attacking and injuring another person by setting them on fire, burning them with acid, etc. Such cases are some of the most serious charges short of murder that are filed in Illinois, and as such a person facing a heinous battery charge is well advised to seek an attorney at once.