MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. — A Florida mother is facing a child neglect charge amid allegations that she made her toddler son vape tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, authorities said.
According to WPEC-TV, Brevard County sheriff’s deputies arrested Kiarra Clarisse, 22, of Merritt Island, on Tuesday, days after a test revealed that the boy had the drug in his system. She has since been released on a $5,000 bond, the outlet reported.
In the arrest affidavit, investigators said Clarisse’s ex-girlfriend told the boy’s father on Nov. 6 that “Clarisse had forced [the child] to smoke marijuana on several occasions” and let others give him alcohol. The ex-girlfriend also said she had seen Clarisse “place a ‘wax pen’ which contained THC oil into [the boy’s] mouth, forcing him to smoke it, in order to get him to sleep and eat,” according to the affidavit.
The father, who noticed that his son seemed lethargic during a visitation earlier that day, left a message with the state Department of Children and Families, which did not return his call, the affidavit said. He decided to take the boy to a nearby hospital, where the child tested positive for THC on Nov. 7, according to the affidavit. The Sheriff’s Office then began to investigate the case, WPEC reported.