Jun 15, 2007 6:54 pm US/Eastern
Toddler Takes Heroin To School, Says It's 'Candy'
Several Students Hospitalized After Swallowing Drug
BUFFALO, N.Y. (CBS) ―
Six children were rushed to hospitals after a 5-year-old boy brought heroin to his day care center and told the other children it was candy, police said.
The boy, his 2-year-old sister and another 2-year-old girl apparently swallowed some of the drug Tuesday, but none of the children were known to be seriously injured, The Buffalo News reported.
"He's all right, he's fine now, him and my daughter both tested positive, but they're OK now, they didn't ingest much," the boy's father, Wayne Clamp, told WIVB-TV.
Operations at the day care were suspended by the state Office of Children and Family Services, pending an investigation. Children and Family Services spokesman Brian Marchetti said the day care center appealed the suspension Friday.
Meanwhile, Clamp and the boy's mother, Kari Lyn Lee, said their children and Lee's 7-year-old son were taken into protective custody and placed with Lee's mother pending a July 11 court date.
The parents said their son must have found the heroin as his mother walked the children to the YWCA Schoolhouse Commons center. They said neither of them uses drugs and insisted the heroin did not come from their house.
"He didn't think it was something bad," Clamp said. "He said it smelled like bread crumbs."
"It was all wrapped up in waxed paper and they had smile faces stamped on them, like these M&Ms," the father said, holding up a candy bag.
Buffalo police Friday were trying to determine where the boy got the heroin, but would say little about the investigation.
"Due to the sensitive nature of this incident, especially one that involved so many young children, we want to make sure that we first protect the interest of those young children," police spokesman Michael DeGeorge said.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
