Ohio Tot Found Eating Charcoal While Parents Sleep In Meth Lab

An Ohio child is in the custody of Children’s Services after the boy was found wandering around an apartment complex by himself. Investigation Discovery’s Crimefeed reports that the boy’s parents were found sound asleep in their apartment — which had been converted into a meth lab.

Heather Sandau and her 23-year-old boyfriend Nicholas Anton both face a list of charges associated with the incident. However, Sandau has not yet been charged. A warrant is currently out for the arrest of the 25-year-old woman, but Nicholas Anton has been charged with child endangerment, possession of meth, and at least one manufacturing charge associated with the meth lab found in the apartment.

The child endangerment charges come from the discovery of their 1-year-old baby wandering alone outside of the apartment complex. To make matters worse, the child was reportedly eating a piece of charcoal when he was discovered by authorities. Authorities reported that the 1-year-old boy had the black substance smeared all over his face and mouth from trying to eat it.

This isn’t the first time a child has been neglected due to meth use and manufacturing. Back in March of this year, a South Carolina couple were charged with meth manufacturing and child endangerment because their meth lab caused an explosion in the motel room where they were staying. Also recently, a Florida woman was caught making meth in the same home where her 3-month-old infant was living. Authorities in Florida charged the woman with child neglect after raiding her home and making the dangerous discovery. In February of this year, a man in Indiana was busted with a meth lab in his home, but two children were also in the home where the dangerous substance was being manufactured. Like other cases, the man was charged with child neglect.

The aforementioned cases ended, fortunately, with the children alive and taken into the care of authorities. However, there are numerous cases involving meth and child endangerment that have ended in fatalities. In 2014, an Ohio man was arrested after a 3-month-old baby was found dead in his home where a suspected meth lab had been in operation. This issue isn’t limited to the United States, either. In May of this year, a home in the Czech Republic was raided on suspicion of meth manufacturing. Not only did authorities find a meth lab in the modest home, but they found the bodies of three dead babies. The meth-addicted parents of the dead babies were charged with triple homicide.

[Photo: Summit County Jail mugshot]