Two parents are facing child endangerment charges after their eight-year-old son overdosed on heroin found in the home last month.
Police were called to a home Jan. 11 in Berea, Ohio, after the boy’s father, Charles Dowdy, called emergency services saying his child’s lips were blue and was not breathing. Responding officers were able to find a pulse and transported the boy, who Dowdy told police was seven-years-old, to a local hospital where doctors successfully treated him.
Authorities found narcotics and syringes at the home and suspected drugs were involved, despite Dowdy telling the 911 operator he thought the boy rolled onto a pillow while sleeping, reports The Washington Post.
Doctors at the hospital found prescription painkillers and a baggie of heroin hidden in the boy’s sock. Police arrested Dowdy and Danielle Simko at the hospital after Dowdy told authorities he used drugs in the home earlier in the day. The Berea Police Department reached out to the rattled community with a informational video on drug abuse.
“There is no city in this country that is immune to drug problems, and Berea is no exception,” the Berea Police Department said in a statement. “The scenes in this video will be all too familiar to the families who have a loved one suffering from a drug addiction.”
Dowdy and Simko are facing charges of child endangerment and were held on $150,000 bond. The pair were arraigned Friday and will have pretrial hearings Feb. 22. The Cleveland suburb is currently getting ravaged by the opioid epidemic.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner said more than 517 people died from heroin, fentanyl or opioid related drug overdoses last year. The county suffered 46 fatal overdoses in January alone from opioids.
Health officials note the national increase in opioid abuse is leading to a general increase in child neglect. In states hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis, social services are becoming overwhelmed by the need for child care.
Officials in Ohio say that opioids are the main driver of a 19 percent spike in the number of kids removed from parental custody for foster care since 2010.
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