LANCASTER Co., Pa. (WPMT) – An Ephrata, Pennsylvania, woman is facing charges after her one-year-old child ingested heroin.
Brittany Ruth, 28, is facing endangering the welfare of children charges for the incident.
On July 23, police were notified by Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency that a 12-month-old infant was at Ephrata Community Hospital for treatment and evaluation after ingesting heroin.
A caseworker was sent to the hospital for further investigation.
Upon arrival, the caseworker and police met with Ruth in an examining room in the emergency room area.
She relayed that she was solely responsible for her 12-month-old son and his care.
She said that he woke up and was fussing around 2:00 a.m. and was playing with an empty envelope that may have contained heroin. Ruth said that the envelope must have come from house guests that she said she had kicked out a few weeks agon.
Ruth told officials that she is “in recovery and has been clean for several months.”
After noticing that her child was not himself and that he “seemed slow,” Ruth woke her roommate up to examine the child.
Upon looking at the one-year-old, Ruth’s roommate noticed the child’s breathing seemed to be labored and his pupils were very small.
The roommate drove the pair to the emergency room.
Ruth’s child tested positive for opiates, ecstasy, methamphetamine and amphetamines while in the hospital.
Now, she is facing charges.
