CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman whose 3-year-old daughter required medical attention after she took a Subutex pill was in Clearfield County Court Tuesday.
Brittany Lee Maines, 23, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person during plea and sentencing court.
She was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to 90 days to one year in jail and two years consecutive probation. She was ordered to complete parenting classes and drug/alcohol counseling.
Prior to sentencing, Ammerman commented that this “really could have been bad.”
The charges stem from an incident May 10 when Maines’s daughter found a Subutex tablet and swallowed it.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were called to the Maines residence for a report of an overdose. When officers arrived, Maines, who was identified as the mother of the girl, was yelling at her to “stay awake.”
The child appeared to be very groggy, dazed and weak. She was having problems keeping her eyes open. Maines was attempting to change the child’s diaper because she had defecated.
Maines explained to police that earlier she laid down upstairs with the girl. She said she must have fallen asleep. When she woke up the child was downstairs.
Maines found her laying head down on a wooden stand. Maines said earlier she had placed a Subutex pill that she had found at her residence on the stand, but the pill was now missing.
Maines stated the pill belonged to one of her friends, and then later changed her story to say that she found it. She was visibly upset and knew the child had taken the medication because she had never acted like this before. She admitted the child was unsupervised for about one hour.
Clearfield emergency medical services arrived on the scene, and took custody of the child whose symptoms worsened. They discussed giving her Naloxone, which is used for heroin overdoses, and transported her immediately to Penn Highlands Clearfield. From there she was transported by helicopter to the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Maines was asked to submit to a urine test by CYS caseworkers. The results revealed Subutex in her system. Maines did not have a prescription for this medication. Lab reports on the child showed it was Subutex that was causing her symptoms.
