By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI – jduchnowski@nwherald.com
January 12, 2010

WOODSTOCK – A 46-year-old Crystal Lake woman accused of improperly signing a consent form for a 16-year-old girl to get her belly pierced was sentenced to two years of probation today.

Eileen P. Kozlowski, of 639 Chardonnay Lane, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor attempted forgery.

She was originally charged with felony forgery for allegedly falsely claiming she was the teen’s legal guardian on Jan. 30. She also allegedly deprived the girl’s true legal guardian of denying written consent, which is mandated by state law.

Kozlowski was fined $500 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, which she will likely not have to serve if she successfully completes probation.

Defense attorney George Kililis said his client acknowledged that she used poor judgment but thought she was preventing the teen from getting the piercing in a less safe environment.

“She was convinced that the child was going to do the piercing one way or another,” Kililis said. “And she thought she was doing the right thing.”

If convicted of the original charge, Kozlowski could have been sentenced to probation or between two and five years of prison.