Oregon Grandmother in Jail After Toddler Drinks Meth Laced Tea

The child is back home with family and expected to make a full recovery.

51-year-old Cynthia Watson. Photo Courtesy: Riverside County Sheriff's Department

(GARNER VALLEY, Calif. ) - An Oregon grandmother who authorities said made a cup of methamphetamine-laced tea while visiting family in California is facing a felony child endangerment charge after her 2-year-old granddaughter drank the concoction and was hospitalized.

51-year-old Cynthia Watson, of the Portland area, was charged on Monday with felony child endangerment and possession of methamphetamine, and was due in court on Wednesday, Riverside County Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Alberto Martinez said.

He said the child, who was not identified, was now back home with family and expected to make a full recovery.

Watson had been staying with relatives in Garner Valley in Southern California when she made a cup of tea with methamphetamine on Sunday night to get high, authorities said on Tuesday.

At some point, the cup was left unattended and her granddaughter took a drink, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

The child's mother called police and took her to the hospital on Monday after the toddler would not fall asleep.

"Her daughter was talking rapidly, scratching her skin, could not sit still and was very agitated," Sergeant Craig McDonald said in the statement.

"Thinking there might be some medical issue with her daughter, the reporting party took her to a hospital to be examined. Over the course of the evening, the examination revealed the child tested positive for methamphetamine in her system," he added.

A court clerk's office in Riverside County could not say whether Watson had retained an attorney to represent her in the case, nor was it possible to reach her for comment from jail.

Source: Reuters