Grandfather arrested after San Antonio boy, 1, found with meth in his system

Rudy Monita, 47, is charged with injury to a child. Rudy Monita, 47, is charged with injury to a child. Photo: / Photo: / Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Grandfather arrested after San Antonio boy, 1, found with meth in his system 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

A San Antonio grandfather was arrested Saturday after his 1-year-old grandson was allegedly found with meth in his system, according to police reports.

Rudy Monita, 47, has been charged with injury to a child, a third-degree felony. The boy is still recovering from ingesting an undisclosed amount of the illegal narcotic, authorities said.

Monita told investigators he was hosting his grandson for the night when the child began to cry continually and failed to sleep, according to an arrest affidavit. Monita called and texted his ex-wife for advice when the symptoms worsened, and the child’s mother retrieved the boy when she found out about the calls and texts, taking him to Methodist Children’s Hospital, where doctors found traces of meth in the boy’s system, the document states.

Monita’s ex-wife told investigators that she divorced him because of his methamphetamine use, according to the affidavit.

Detectives reported Monita admitted to using meth, though he claimed he kept the drug in a locked drawer in his bedroom. The boy’s mother, however, told police Monita also keeps glass pipes used to ingest the drug in a bin on the floor, the affidavit states. She said she believes the child, who is “very mobile,” climbed up on either the bin or the chest of drawers and ingested some of the drug accidentally, the affidavit states.

“It happened at my house,” Monita said, according to the affidavit. “It had to happen with me.”

jgerlach@express-news.net

Correction: The story previously stated the drug consumed was heroin. It was meth.