An Ohio woman has been taken into police custody for giving a 6-year-old boy Smirnoff Ice to drink. This was apparently not the first time the child had tasted alcohol.
According to Fox 19, Victoria Hampton, 26, was with the boy at a gas station when the staff noticed the child with Smirnoff Ice. They called the police to conduct a welfare check.
When the police arrived, Hamptom explained that the child likely grabbed one of the alcohol bottles she just purchased. She also said that the boy was his son. The police reminded her to pay close attention to the boy after she apologized for the oversight.
However, when Hamptom and the child left, the gas station manager told the cops that the Ohio woman should be informed that she was banned from their place of business, prompting the police to visit her at home. When they got there, the deputy saw the 6-year-old outside the house and had Smirnoff Ice in his hand.
"We drink it all the time"
Olivia Eversole, who was working at the gas station, could not believe her eyes when she saw the child drinking alcohol in the parking lot. She and her co-worker said that the boy even offered the drink to some of the customers. The incident was recorded on CCTV.
The staff even approached the boy and asked why he was drinking beer. The 6-year-old said that it's his and his mother's favorite drink, which they drink "all the time," per WIWT.
Eversole kept the child occupied after they called 911 but then she got worried when the boy and his mom were allowed to leave. Hampton apparently threw out the beer she bought in front of the cops to show them that the welfare check was all a mistake.
Later that day, when the authorities went to their house to inform them of the ban, they found the boy unsupervised. They then learned that the boy has been drinking beer "regularly" because the woman gives it to him to help him sleep.
A few minutes later, Justin Sorrell, the boy's father arrived home from work. He explained that Hampton is not his son's mother but a friend he was trying to help out. He claimed he had no idea about the alcohol as he is at work most of the day.
Hampton has been taken into custody for child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Sorrell was also booked in jail because he has prior traffic warrants. It's still unclear if the father will be charged for endangering his child as well. The local children services' office will still be conducting its own investigation.
The 6-year-old boy has been taken to his mother's house after they informed her of what happened.
Children must know the risks of drinking alcohol
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), about 10 percent of kids below 12 years old have tried alcohol. Around the ages of 9 to 13 years old, children typically understand that alcohol is a vice but the experts said that parents may discuss the topic of drinking and its negative effects with the children as early as 5 years old.
The conversation about alcohol is crucial given the rate of underage drinking in the U.S. The experts said children should be made to see the risks of mental and physical impairment with drinking without resorting to scare tactics. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has plenty of resources on how parents should address the subject of alcohol with their children.
