A 5-year old boy yelled for help while inside that car of his parents, who both fell into semi-consciousness after taking in heroin, as police reported. Adam Legrand, 41, and Hannah Smith, 37, the little boy's parents from Franklin, Vt., appeared on Thursday in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.
The incident happened at Burlington Vt. parking lot last Tuesday evening. Each of the parents took a dose of heroin while in the car but the police did not know yet if both were already high by the time they got them as both gave normal response to Narcan treatment.
The case has already been referred to the state Department for Children and Families. The child is now under the custody of a relative after rescue workers took his parents to the hospital. Both parents participated a crime towards their child and perhaps will be charged with child abuse because of "mental injury":
"Mental Injury means harm to a child's psychological or intellectual functioning which may be exhibited by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal or outward aggressive behavior, or a combination of those behaviors, which may be demonstrated by a change in behavior, emotional response, or cognition..." U.S. Code § 3509
Based on the figures presented in the 2014 Children's Defense Fund's Annual State of America's Children, "there are 1,825 children who are abused or neglected each day in the U.S., and 1,923 for 2014 according to Children's Bureau 2014 Child Maltreatment report".
This statistics is very much depressing. The incident in the Burlington Vt. parking lot may have affected the child's cognitive process because of shock.
There is no excuse in child abuse. No matter what the parents would say, their actions have already made an impact to the life of the child who may carry it in his whole life. Everyone hopes for the quick recovery of the little boy.
