A Salt Lake grandfather and his 25-year-old daughter have each been charged with two counts of child abuse, a class A misdemeanor, for allegedly exposing two children to a working methamphetamine lab.
The daughter's two children, ages 5 and 1, lived at the home with their mother and grandfather, who had been cooking meth at the residence for six months to a year, charges filed in 3rd District Court Thursday state.
Drug enforcement agents who raided the home in the area of 7000 South and 800 East on March 16 found a boiling reaction vessel and condenser column near a child's trainer toilet.
Agents also recovered three guns, one loaded, that the children could have easily accessed. A red phosphorus-stained towel was recovered from a food tray on a high chair. Meth-making chemicals were also found in the children's room closet and a bowl of moist methamphetamine sat on the coffee table, court documents filed Thursday state.
After the raid, a Department of Child and Family Services agent was called in to take custody of the children. The two boys were then taken to Primary Children's Medical Center where they were analyzed by Associated Pathologists Laboratories. Those tests showed the children had methamphetamine and marijuana in their systems, specifically in their hair follicles, court documents state.
DEA resident-agent-in-charge Don Mendrala said the case is a microcosm of a bigger problem.
"We run into kids all the time during busts. It's sad because these kids have no choice," he said. "Even when you get away from what the chemicals might do to them, there are issues of malnutrition, lice and skin rashes, all brought on by neglect. We see that all the time."
Under the best of circumstances cooking meth produces toxic fumes. But the process, usually conducted by drug addicts, rarely goes perfectly and, besides fumes, chemical spills are common and kids are often found crawling in toxic chemicals, Mendrala said.
"These people don't usually hold degrees in chemistry," he said. "They're putting someone else at risk who really has no control over his own destiny."
Carol Sisco, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Human Services, says that in Salt Lake County meth is the No. 1 reason kids are separated from their parents.
"Our DCFS agents did an informal survey and of all the kids they took into custody, 60 percent were because meth was being used or cooked in the home," she said.
To combat the problem, both the DEA and the Human Services Department have set up hotlines for people who want to report meth labs in their neighborhoods.
The March 16 bust came as a result of a DEA hotline tip. Prior to Thursday's charges, both grandfather, 43, and daughter had previously been charged with operating a clandestine lab, a first-degree felony. They are currently incarcerated in the Salt Lake County Jail. The children are being relocated by the DCFS.
E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com