Parents gave heroin-addicted newborn drugs to mask addiction, police say
A US couple have been arrested after it’s alleged they tried to cover up their newborn daughter's heroin addiction by giving her prescription drugs to mask the addiction.
Utah parents Colby Glen Wilde, 29, and Lacey Dawn Christenson, 26, of Elk Ridge, Utah face drug distribution and child endangerment charges, according to Utah County Sheriff’s spokesman Sergeant Spencer Cannon.
Ms Christenson had been heavily using heroin and prescription pain medication during her pregnancy and because of that her daughter was born addicted to drugs, according to KUTV.
"It makes me sick to my stomach, for a number of reasons,” Sgt Cannon said.
“You've got an infant who cannot do anything for herself, and the people who should be providing her nurture, and love, and care, are the ones who are harming their child.”
Authorities said parents of drug-addicted children normally crush up methadone or Suboxone, a drug used to treat opioid addiction, and apply it to the baby’s gums to mask signs of addiction.
According to KUTV, Mr Wilde has admitted to applying Suboxone to the infant’s gums after her birth on April 9.
Authorities said they first encountered Mr Wilde when responding to a theft at a Walmart on June 26.
Employees said he had been taking items from the shelf and trying to return them for a cash refund.
He was given a refund but when loss prevention employees approached him he took off running.
Police said he slammed into exit doors as they were closing and dropped his daughter, who he was carrying in a car seat at the time.
He then dropped her a second time, handed her over to a stranger and then fled in his car.
Police arrested him in a parking lot nearby soon after on suspicion of DUI, possession of heroin and methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and driving without car insurance.
Ms Christenson, who was also in the store at the time, was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
While the couple was in jail, a woman taking care of their pets called police after she found drug paraphernalia in the home.
Police found drug paraphernalia in many areas of the home, including next to a baby bassinet and a child’s sippy cup, along with Suboxone pills.
There were four children in the couple’s care: three boys, aged two, four and eight, along with a three-month-old girl.
The two younger boys and the baby all tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the Utah Division of Child and Family Services.
The baby also tested positive for heroin and morphine.
The eight-year-old boy is not Mr Wilde’s biological son, and his father has taken custody of all four children.
While the couple were released from jail after posting bond they were both arrested on July 18 with Mr Wilde caught smoking heroin.
Their bail has been set at $US10,000.
