Posted on 06/22/2006 9:39:26 AM PDT by WestTexasWend
As many as nine LSD-laced candies disappeared during a gathering at a Northwest Austin apartment and, about an hour later, a 3-year-old boy was hallucinating, crying as he grasped at the air, police said.
The boy spent three days in Children's Hospital, at times in intensive care, before being discharged Wednesday and placed in a foster home. His mother, 22-year-old Ashli Rene Freas, faces a state jail felony charge of abandoning or endangering a child after the incident Sunday.
Police arrested Freas late Sunday outside her Cedar Park apartment on Cypress Creek Road, saying she took her child to an apartment where there were drugs and then failed to get help for him after he ingested the LSD and began hallucinating, said Capt. Jeff Hayes of the Cedar Park police. Police said the boy hallucinated for more than an hour before paramedics were called.
But Freas' lawyer, Robert M. Phillips, said the charges are false and denied that Freas waited to call for help. Freas had no idea there were drugs at the apartment and did everything she could for her son, Phillips said, adding that police should be focusing on the person who had the drugs.
"This young lady, who has never been arrested in her life, is not guilty of this offense and is absolutely morally pure in the way she handled herself," Phillips said.
According to a Cedar Park police affidavit, Freas and her boyfriend had taken the boy to an apartment in the area of Parmer Lane and Duval Road. There, the boy went inside with another adult while Freas and her boyfriend stayed outside with friends.
The man who lived in the apartment, identified in the affidavit only as Stephen, noticed at about 7 p.m. that his SweeTart candies laced with the drug were open and that nine pieces were missing. Stephen told Freas that the candies were missing and that the boy might have eaten them, Hayes said. After taking the boy home, the affidavit said, Freas noticed that he began crying, vomiting and hallucinating. She called two friends, one of whom called 911 after seeing the boy.
Cedar Park police said they will work with Austin police to investigate further, Hayes said, because the apartment where the boy is thought to have ingested the LSD-laced candy is in Austin. Because the case is being investigated as child abuse, APD officials refused to comment on any drug investigations or charges.
Freas, who posted $10,000 bail Tuesday to get out of the Williamson County Jail, could face up to two years in state jail and a $10,000 fine.
Phillips, however, said that the affidavit contains factual errors and denied that an hour had passed before emergency personnel were called.
"She was piecing together the story and doing her best to take care of her baby's medical problems and possibly not thinking as straight as she should have, but certainly not purposefully or neglectfully failing to call emergency personnel," Phillips said.
Child Protective Services has custody of the boy and is investigating, said Chris Van Deusen, a CPS spokesman. In cases of children having access to or being harmed by drugs, the drug involved is usually methamphetamines because people manufacture them at home, he said.
"Where there's a child around, there's a potential for all sorts of accidents, and all sorts of problems arise from simply being in the presence of drugs," Van Deusen said.
CPS will investigate the boy's home environment before determining whether to return him to his mother, place him with another family member or keep him in the foster home where he was taken after being released from the hospital, Van Deusen said.
LSD, or acid, is a potent drug that can cause an adult to become psychotic and hallucinate, said Dr. William Loving, director of the chemical dependency program at Seton Shoal Creek Hospital. It's unclear what effect it would have on a child with a developing brain, he said. The drug wears off with time, depending on how much is ingested, he said.
"You take a little child with a developing brain, and you throw in this turbocharged chemical that's going to stimulate the brain and make them really confused," Loving said. "It's likely to have been a nightmarish state that he would've been in."
Three is a little young to begin frying. Especially with 9 adult doses.
Whoever sees acid these days but boy did it make high school and college (and movies) interesting!
Seems like the mom did the right thing once he started behaving weirdly. Unless I missed it, she didn't know he'd taken some doses.
Somethings smells about this story. "LSD laced candies", in particular SweetTarts? I've never heard of such a thing. I've only ever seen acid on blotter or in microdots (very tiny pills), and in the days of old in gelatin ("windowpane") or powdered form. Can't really imagine someone going to the trouble of making candies out of it. I suspect something else going on and this is the best explanation they could come up with.
Based on the info given here, I don't think the child should have been taken from her. It's plenty traumatic to a child to be taken away from its mother and familiar home, and in all likelihood a lot more damage is being done to the child by taking him, than would occur if he was left with his mother. She needs to learn to exercise better judgement in choosing her friends (and most likely will, if she's the sort of person who has no record of arrests, much less convictions), but the criminal here is the guy who left LSD laced candies lying around in an apartment with a child roaming around. If this had been a huge house, he might not have known that a child had been brought in, but it's just not plausible that he didn't know in an apartment.
The state taking a child from its parent(s) is a VERY serious matter, and should only be done in the most extreme situations. And for borderline cases, where the facts are really fuzzy and the parent(s) might be really dangerous but also might be perfectly innocent, the relevant agencies should be equipped to bring the parent(s) and child(ren) TOGETHER to a supervised living facility, to avoid separation trauma to the child(ren).
all you would do is put a drop on the candie it was done with sugar cubes also.
"Ma'am, why didn't you call for help after your little boy started hallucinating?"
"Serves the little bastard right. He ate my stash."
Sorry, can't agree.
It was her responsiblity to go into the apartment and check for hazards before letting "another adult" take her toddler inside. And the minute "Steven" told her of his suspicions about the missing candy, she should have taken the child to an ER or called 911...not gone home and pieced together a story. Thank God a friend called 911.
Since she failed to do these things...and until/unless she learns to do better...someone else needs to watch over the boy.
Let me guess, you work for Texas CPS.
If it only requires a droplet, it could be applied to SweeTarts.
If there was no reason for the mother to believe that the candy had been "electrified" then she should be let off.
"all you would do is put a drop on the candie it was done with sugar cubes also"
OK, but that would require that you start off with LSD in an aqueous solution, something only a manufacturer of LSD is likely to have, and they are very few and far between, the making of LSD requiring fairly sophisticated chem lab knowledge. Given how harsh the penalties are in the US for making or trafficking LSD, why would you then put it on something as big as a SweeTart when 20 or 30 microdots would fit in the same space, or even more blotter? Did the cops get any of these SweeTart candies with LSD on them? Personally I suspect someone gave the kid LSD on purpose, you know, just for fun to see what would happen.
I guess - and this is just a theory - that one could take liquid LSD and drop it onto Sweet Tarts, which might be porous enough to absorb it.
Someone needs to tell Ashli that a) her parents are morons and b) it's spelled Ashley.
So can Black Sabbath
Game Show Host: Here's a question I ask of all our contestants: what made you drop out?
Bob Bitchin': A lot of people think it was the 400 Acid trips I took, you know?
Game Show Host: Uh-huh...but what was it really, Bob?
Bob Bitchin': One day I played Black Sabbath at 78 speed, man.
Game Show Host: Black Sabbath - And then what happened?
Bob Bitchin': I saw God, man.
Intensive care sounds awful curious too. An antipsychotic medication and physical restraints should be all that would be needed until the drug had worn off. Also -- a mental hospital rather than a medical hospital would have staff more knowledgeable about this sort of thing.
See my previous post - I've never seen or even heard of anyone having liquid LSD. It is possible, of course, and even if the candy didn't absorb it very far (SweetTarts are pretty solid, not like a sugar cube), the standard 100 microgram dose of LSD doesn't take up very much space - that's a tenth of a milligram, a very tiny amount (LSD is a very potent substance). But to repeat myself, the only form I ever saw or heard of anyone having LSD in was blotter or microdot. It's been many years since I had any contact with the stuff though, so things may have changed (what I mostly hear is that LSD has pretty much disappeared altogether - the penalties for producing or trafficking it are very harsh, and the precursor chemicals are not common and are closely watched by law enforcement).
SweeTarts might be easier to handle by a tripper, is the only thing I can think of.
Uh...Ashli looks Caucasian to me, so NO.
My views aren't based on her race, they're based on her actions.
Stick the dots to the candies using something like corn syrup?
Just reading this story some more, at this point we don't know if this "friend" of hers even exists - be interesting to see if he is ever identified. I suspect the drugs might have been hers. Anyway, also thinking about it a little more, I can imagine that a child might mistake microdot LSD for a small sweet and tart type candy, like "Runts" for example, which are only a little bigger. Microdots do typically come in similar sorts of bright colours as the candies do.
This is all pure speculation on my part, of course, and it could be that the facts as reported are all correct (although that'd probably be a first).
Based on one side of the story's allegations about her actions.
As someone who has done LSD dozens of times, I cannot imagine the hell this little child went through.
Poor kid.
I've never seen liquid LSD, but two of my trustworthy friends have.
Now, in my limited experience ('twas many and many a year ago in this kingdom by the sea), I only saw it on those teensy squares of paper that are perforated for easy tearin' off.
The friend (under assumption there was one) is reported as saying someone "opened" the SweeTarts. Since they don't come packaged from the factory that way, it might well have been a ziploc bag. Kid sees bag, thinks 'Mmmm, candy', and downs a bunch of them.
Just for those who don't know, "microdot" LSD is a small pill-type cylinder, typically about 1/8" in diameter and length, and most of its content is still just filler. Certainly if you had the equipment to produce these you could also produce something looking like a SweeTart.
Well, if I didn't feel old before, I do now. : )
Austin has a slogan - "Keep Austin Weird" - and they certainly seem to be succeeding in their efforts. This doesn't surprise me greatly as sad as it is.
I agree with TXWend. At the very least an investigation needs to be performed before giving the child back.
It's possible the mother is staight up. But she either let her 3 year old go into an apartment of someone she doesn't know well (poor judgement). Or she's running in drug circles (even poorer judgement). It's more likely the latter.
They ought to test the Mom for drugs.
Thanks, Danny. I'm astounded at the number of FReepers who are a) defending a woman whose parenting skills are dicey, at best and b) showing first-hand knowledge of LSD use and manufacture. I guess the bright spot is there's a chance this girl will end up a FReeper herself someday ;)
Have a great day & weekend!
WTXW/Deb
I used the words "poor, misunderstood", neither of which alludes to appearance. I used to write for a living. If I'd meant what you think, I'd have said so.
BTW, being blonde and blue-eyed can be as much a liability as it is an asset.
Since our daughter quit highlighting her darkening blonde hair, she's amazed at how much better she's treated. From clerks and motorists to classmates and profs, she finds people friendlier, more helpful and more aware of her intelligence instead of just her looks.
As one who was born blonde and naturally morphed to brunette with age and childbirth, I've noticed the same thing.
Now if you really want respect, try being a redhead. Easiest three years of my life, except for the constant touch-ups. ;)
Some interesting stats on hair color and attitudes >>>
http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip8018.htm
Sounds like she is the typical mother who would rather have a good time with her latest "boyfriend" than be a good mother. No telling what her child has already witnessed and heard in its short life.
So if her drug tests are clean, you would still condemn the boy to foster care.
I don't think you realize what you have posted.
I realize exactly what I posted and I stand by every word of it. The mother is worthless and if I was in charge would be given hard time in prison and her tubes tied. And the father would also have some explaining to do.
Okay, maybe you would not want Ashli to be your sister in law. Austin is a liberal city filled with people who believe drug use will one day be legalized. I think they are wrong ,but not all of them are evil monsters. Our state will never strip all of those people of their parental rights. It may come as a surprise to you but pot smokers have been allowed to become foster parents even in Texas.
Anyone who has ever felt envious gazes directed at one of their desirable children will understand why CPS must prove parents are abusive jerks before we consign children to the foster care system. I only want abusive jerks to lose custody their children. I want CPS to prove that children are being physically or sexually abused.If Ashli has never abused her child, she should be reunited with him.
I guess we Freepers have become so jaded on child welfare workers because of countless stories of them taking children away because the parents are Christians, want to home school, or the child escaped the house one time without clothing and a nosy neighbor turned them in. We've forgotten that these agencies were created because there are real children who need help.
In my misspent youth, I took LSD many times. When getting liquid acid, the common thing to do was put a drop of it on a SweetTart and let it dissolve into the candy (like with sugar cubes) if you didn't want to take it right away or carry around a vial of liquid. I suppose other candies would work, but for some reason it always done with SweetTarts.
The lack of arrest record does say something in her favor but the comment about *absolutely morally pure* sends up a red flag to me. Our old welfare town was filled with people who did drugs. I just cannot believe she wasn't aware that these people were into drugs. It's too obvious.
"She was piecing together the story and doing her best to take care of her baby's medical problems and possibly not thinking as straight as she should have, but certainly not purposefully or neglectfully failing to call emergency personnel," Phillips said.
And there is some other way of not calling 911 in an emergency? Why did she even begin to think she could handle something like this? I consider her lack of immediate response deplorable. She was told up front what happened. She shouldn't have waited and let a friend do the calling for her.
FWIW, where I lived as a teen, a full hit sold on a chewable vitamin C was tres vogue. It was widely believed that the vitamin made colors even more intensely vibrant than the drug alone would. Probably not true. It did seem to accelerate the onset of tin-can mouth, IIRC.
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