The parents of a baby born addicted to heroin have been sentenced, with the father being the one facing jail time for supplying drugs to the pregnant woman.
The mother, Kerrie Lynn Neal, and the father, Joshua Hans Grissom, entered guilty pleas before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to reduced charges of reckless endangerment with a weapon, that weapon being heroin. They were originally charged with aggravated assault, but that charge was dropped as a result of their plea bargain.
As terms of the agreement, the mother will escape jail time but will be required to undergo 60 days of treatment at Buffalo Valley rehab. She will be placed on probation for a period of three years with the in-patient rehab being part of that probation. She has asked for a judicial diversion, meaning if it is approved she can have her record erased after her probation is complete.
For the father, his freedom remains in limbo pending the results of a hair follicle test. That is a test used to detect drugs in a person’s system. Under the terms of his agreement, he will be placed on three years probation on the charge of reckless endangerment with a weapon. However, should his hair follicle test come back positive for drugs, he will be required to serve 60 days in jail.
Both parents are to appear before Judge Stanley on March 27 for a review of their cases.
The couple was charged after their baby boy was diagnosed as being addicted to heroin at birth. The addiction is what prosecutors say was the aggravating factor. The baby, it is believed, did not suffer life-long disabling effects from the addiction. The custodial status of the boy has not been revealed.
In taking the charges against the pair, prosecutors said it was the father who gave drugs to the mother knowing she was pregnant with their child. They also said he had a duty to protect his unborn child and failed in that duty by letting its mother take drugs.
“He obtained heroin for her and assisted her in obtaining the drug knowing that ingesting it would expose her unborn child to the effects of the drug,” prosecutors claimed in court papers.
Prosecutors also noted Neal voluntarily ingested the drug knowing the possible negative effects it would have on her baby thereby bringing the felony charge.