KOKOMO, Ind. — Two women face charges after police say they, along with two children, tested positive for methamphetamine.
The charges come after an investigation into alleged neglect after the Indiana Department of Child Services got a report with concerns that all the adults in the residence were using illegal substances.
Court documents indicate a family case manager, along with an officer with the Kokomo Police Department, responded to the home and found it cluttered, and in different stages of remodeling. Still, the family case manager found the home to meet minimal standards.
While talking to Sydney Stafford, the document states that she told the case manager that she kicked Juanita Stoner out of the home because she was using drugs. Stafford claims that Stoner provided an oral drug screen, which would most likely test positive for methamphetamine.
Stafford told police that she kicked Stoner out because she didn’t want that around her home or children. This resulted in her having to quit her job due to lack of child care, as Stoner used to be in a caregiver role.
The document states that Stafford also provided a drug screen, but had been taking medications for an illness that had been going around which might show up as a false positive.
When the drug screens came back, the document states it showed both Stafford and Stoner tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine. The case manager and an officer returned to remove the children from the home and learned that Stoner had moved back in.
The document states that Stafford began to cry and get upset when they told her that she and the children tested positive for methamphetamine. She denied using methamphetamine and never had a positive screen for probation.
When they asked her why Stoner moved back in, the document states Stafford told them that Stoner was having a hard time. They confronted her about her positive drug screen and the document states she told them that she does not use around the children.
The neglect investigation concluded that the claim was substantiated against Stoner due to the test results and her being in a caregiver role and roommate to Stafford. The claim was substantiated against Stafford because of the test results, her admitting that Stoner used methamphetamine and the children having been around people that used leading to their exposure.
Stafford and Stoner face neglect of a dependent charges as a result of the investigation.
