Montana

Mother charged after 9-month-old baby ingests meth

Posted: Aug 16, 2012 4:49 PM by Beth Beechie - MTN News
Updated: Aug 16, 2012 4:49 PM

GREAT FALLS - Brandi Rae Bargas of Great Falls has been charged with criminal endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child after her nine-month old baby reportedly ingested methamphetamine.

Bargas, 25, took her son to Benefis hospital in April after he started acting strangely at her apartment.

According to court documents Bargas was eating dinner when her child spilled her drink on the floor and then licked his hands.

The child then began acting strangely; court documents state that Bargas recorded some of the behavior on her cell phone, and the video showed the child "lying on the floor and pivoting around on the floor with his head in one place and his body moving in a circle around it."

Bargas told police that she then called her relatives for advice; one of them told her to take the baby to the hospital.

Court documents say the child was screaming and had tremors in his legs and hands at the hospital.

The MT Department of Health & Human Services reported that initial lab results showed that the level of the drug in the baby's system was the highest that health officials had ever seen where the child survived.

Court documents state that Bargas initially told police that she suspected the baby ingested the drug from meth residue on the floor of the apartment left by former tenants.

Bargas then admitted to police that's she's a recovering addict and that the last time she had used meth was 40 days before the incident.

The baby recovered and was released to the custody of a grandmother, and is having no contact with the mother at this point.

Bargas' bond was set at $10,000.