Couple arrested for giving drugs to newborn for hiding her withdrawal symptoms

A couple in Utah has been arrested for allegedly giving prescription pain medicine Suboxone to their newborn daughter the day she was born. According to the police, on April 9, 2017, when the medical staff at Utah Valley Hospital were out of the room, Lacey Dawn Christenson (26) and Colby Glen Wilde (29), crushed Suboxone pills and put the powder on the infant’s mouth and gums. While Christenson has admitted to crushing the drugs, Wilde admitted to administering the same to the infant. The drug was given to the infant to hide the fact that the child was born addicted to drugs. According to the police, throughout her pregnancy, Christenson was addicted to heroin and prescription pain medications. Suboxone can provide relief from withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings.

The incident occurred in April 2017, but the couple was not arrested until June 26, 2017. What led to the arrest was a June 26, 2017, robbery at Walmart at Spanish Fork. The store employees reported that Wilde, along with the infant, who was two-month-old at the time of the incident, was spotted taking products from the store shelf. He then proceeded to the customer service to obtain a refund as if he had bought the products. After a confrontation with the employees and after being challenged about the alleged theft, Wilde reportedly fled the scene. However, he was later arrested and charged with driving without insurance, DUI, possession of heroin and meth, theft and child abuse. Christenson, along with other children, was also present at the store and was arrested on an outstanding warrant.

Multiple search warrants

On June 28, 2017, when the couple was in jail, the deputies got a search warrant based on feedback from the family’s pet’s caretaker and found items of drug paraphernalia scattered across their house. Though both Christenson and Wilde were released on July 5, 2017, another search warrant was issued on July 18, 2017, as the police had information that the couple was still doing drugs. On July 18, the police allegedly busted their house and found Wilde actively smoking heroin. After the second search warrant, the couple admitted to using crushed Suboxone pills on their infant daughter in April in the hospital.

The couple was charged with distribution of controlled substance in a drug-free zone, possession of drug paraphernalia, use of heroin and meth, and endangerment of a child. The cash bail for the couple has been set at $10,000.

With both parents in jail, the couple’s children (aged three months, two, four and eight years) were taken into custody by the Utah Division of Child and Family Services. Although the oldest of the children did not test positive for drugs, the three younger ones tested positive for meth, while the youngest tested positive for heroin and morphine as well. While the police did not believe that the children were given drugs directly, the children ingested the smoke secondhand from their parents. “They were routinely exposed to secondhand smoke from (the parents’) smoking methamphetamines and heroin,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon, Utah County Sheriff’s Office public information officer.

In the U.S., a growing number of babies are born addicted to drugs. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), every 25 minutes one baby is born with opioid withdrawal symptoms. Called as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), the cost of taking care of such babies is huge. As per experts, the use of opioids like fentanyl, heroin, codeine and oxycodone during pregnancy can cause withdrawal symptoms in infants.

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