Child Endangerment Charges When A Child Ingests Illegal Drugs

Young children will put almost anything in their mouths. The manufacturers of commercial products such as batteries and nail polish remover have started adding ingredients to the products to make them taste so bad that children would immediately spit them out and not swallow them. Sometimes children swallow things that are not food, and it is not the end of the world. After a panicked visit to the doctor, it becomes a funny family story, in much the way that young children’s mispronunciations of their own names or their siblings’ names often become lifelong nicknames. In the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, a preschool-aged child even implausibly swallows a pet turtle. Poison control centers get calls every day about non-food substances that children accidentally ingested. The children sometimes require emergency medical treatment, but these incidents usually do not result in criminal charges for the parents. If a child ingests illicit drugs, though, it is a different story. If you are facing criminal charges because a child accidentally consumed drugs in your residence or while under your supervision, contact a Pittsburgh drug crime lawyer.

What Happens If Children Under Your Care Are Exposed to Illicit Drugs?

Criminal charges for child endangerment can apply in a variety of circumstances. Any time you are responsible for children, whether you are a parent and your children are with you or whether supervising children is part of your job duties, your actions that place children in immediate risk of physical harm can result in charges of child endangerment. Despite what your micromanaging in-laws might say, it is not child endangerment if police see your children drinking Mountain Dew or if a few nights go by without your kids taking a proper bath. It is child endangerment if you are intoxicated while supervising your children, or if drugs or weapons are within your children’s reach, regardless of whether the children touch the dangerous items or get hurt. Child endangerment charges often occur in tandem with other criminal charges, such as drug possession or domestic violence.

In the News

In November 2025, Tanera Green was driving her car, and her four-year-old son fell asleep in his car seat. It was an unusual time for him to sleep, but she did not see it as a cause for alarm. He was sound asleep when they arrived home, and then his breathing started to sound unusual, and she could not wake him up. She called 911, fearing that he had accidentally ingested one of her fentanyl pills. When police arrived, they administered naloxone and took the boy to a hospital. Green admitted to police that she had a stash of fentanyl pills which she had bought illegally, but she said that she would never give them to her son; besides the obvious dangers, the pills cost $60 each. Green is facing charges for child endangerment and drug crimes.

Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges related to child endangerment.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.

Source:

wtae.com/article/pittsburgh-mother-fentanyl-child-hospitalized/69556114