LaPorte toddler taken to hospital on meth overdose, mother charged with child neglect

LAPORTE — A LaPorte toddler has been placed in the care of the Indiana Department of Child Services after the 18-month-old wound up in the hospital sick from meth.

The child's 22-year-old mother was ordered held on $16,000 cash-only bond on charges in LaPorte Circuit Court of Level 5 felony neglect of a dependent.

During her initial hearing Friday, Judge Tom Alevizos set the bail amount and appointed a public defender to represent her after ruling she is not able to afford private legal counsel.

According to prosecutors, emergency responders last week found the toddler shaking, vomiting and experiencing irregular breathing in a LaPorte home. The child was taken to Northwest Health in LaPorte and tested positive for methamphetamine, police said.

Police said the toddler was later released from the hospital and placed into the care of an Indiana Department of Child Services case worker.

Exactly how the methamphetamine wound up in the blood stream of the child was not revealed.

Police said the mother gave conflicting stories but the one she told the most involved her leaving the child alone inside the home of a cousin while the mother was outside.

Police claim the mother later took the child to the home of her friend to ask advice because she thought the child was "acting strange" but decided the child just needed something to eat.

Police claim the mother eventually returned, fearing her child was overdosing on meth, reporting that she called several people looking for a drug test and then called 911.

If convicted of neglect, the LaPorte woman could face anywhere from one to six years in prison.