CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield woman is facing charges after her baby daughter reportedly tested positive for drugs in January of 2018 when she was nine months old.
Melissa Sue Root, 31, is charged by Officer Craig A. Kanour of the Lawrence Township police with felony conspiracy/endangering the welfare of children and misdemeanor conspiracy/recklessly endangering another person.
The baby’s father, Joshua Allen Root, 34, of Clearfield was also charged by police and had child endangerment- and drug-related conspiracy charges held to county court following a preliminary hearing in January.
Melissa Root waived her right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday during centralized court at the Clearfield County Jail. Her bail is set at $1,000 unsecured.
According to the affidavits of probable cause, the investigation began Jan. 24, 2018 after a report was received from Children, Youth & Family Services that Joshua and Melissa Root’s nine-month-old baby tested positive for cocaine and amphetamines the day before.
Per CYFS, on Jan. 23, 2018, the baby was in the primary care of her mother and father between the hours of approximately 5:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at their residence on Montgomery Run Road in Clearfield.
At some point that evening, Melissa Root laid her baby down to feed her a bottle when she became very fussy and began shaking and vomiting. She asked Joshua Root to take their baby to Penn Highlands DuBois for a medical evaluation because “she knew something was wrong.”
Joshua Root reportedly left the residence at around 9:30 p.m.; however, hospital records indicate they didn’t arrive until approximately 11:54 p.m. When the baby tested positive for cocaine and amphetamines, she was taken by ambulance to the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The baby was discharged from the hospital Jan. 25, 2018, and temporarily placed with her grandparents until permanent arrangements could be made and a court date could be set up, according to the affidavit.
On Jan. 25, 2018, Kanour attempted to contact Melissa Root by phone for the purpose of an interview, but she failed to return his call. Joshua Root was asked by CYFS to submit to a drug test but reportedly refused.
On Jan. 26, 2018, a CYFS caseworker reported to police that the baby’s parents were being very uncooperative, and their stories didn’t match up or make any sense to her. It was also reported that their three-year-old child was removed and placed with her grandparents.
Because Joshua and Melissa Root’s older child was very talkative, police arranged an interview at the Child Advocacy Center of Clearfield County. The girl told police that when her baby sister became ill and was throwing up, “mommy got mad at dad.”
She said her mother began to hit her father, and he took her baby sister to the hospital. She also said that her “daddy” keeps “his stuff” on the coffee table in the living room, and there were two other people who were “being bad” out in her father’s workshop.
On Jan. 26, 2018, Kanour spoke with Dr. Jennifer Clarke from the Child Advocacy Center, Pittsburgh. She said a child will show symptoms like fussiness, vomiting and accelerated heart rate within 15 minutes of having contact with cocaine or amphetamines.
On Jan. 27, 2018, the baby’s parents were interviewed at the Lawrence Township police station. Melissa Root said she didn’t know how this could have happened, and that something possibly could have been wrong with the baby’s formula but she didn’t know how it could have been contaminated.
She also claimed that only she, Joshua Root, and their two, young daughters were inside the residence on the night in question, and that there weren’t any drugs in their home because Joshua Root doesn’t use drugs or have a drug problem.
She said another male came inside briefly to use the bathroom, but that he was in and straight back outside. She said the male didn’t enter any other rooms within their residence.
Melissa Root said at 4:15 a.m. Jan. 24, 2018, she received a call from Joshua Root saying their baby tested positive for cocaine and amphetamines. She said she questioned him about how this happened, and he didn’t know.
Melissa Root was then asked if she would be willing to submit to a polygraph test, but she said no.
It was noted that CYFS advised police that Melissa Root had tested positive for methamphetamine, but they had to “roll” the test as a negative because the results were so low.
Joshua Root told police there were several others at their residence before the baby became ill. He said he didn’t know how this could have happened, and that someone must have put something in the baby’s formula. Root also refused to submit to a polygraph test.
Later Jan. 27, 2018, Lawrence Township and Clearfield Borough police officers with assistance from a Pennsylvania State Police K-9 unit executed a search warrant at the Root’s residence.
Several people were observed in and around the residence, and Joshua Root was inside a shed with the doors open. When he turned around and observed police, he reportedly put a glass pipe in his back pocket.
Inside the residence, K-9 Tom alerted to a tied-up grocery bag in an upstairs bedroom and a multi-colored smoking device underneath the bed. Inside the grocery bag, there were reportedly 14 used “stamp” bags.
Police also found a glass pipe with suspected residue in a dresser located in the upstairs bedroom and a “saw-off” 16-gauge shotgun in a room downstairs. Joshua Root reportedly admitted to having smoked methamphetamine earlier in the day.
On Jan. 30, 2018, Joshua Root was interviewed again at the jail. He said he didn’t know how his baby could have tested positive for cocaine and amphetamines. He said he’s not a “heavy” meth user, and he doesn’t use drugs in front of his children.
Joshua Root said he was aware of the sawed-off shotgun inside his residence; however, he claimed he’d first seen the gun a few weeks prior to the search, and that it didn’t belong to him.
Medical reports for the baby showed she had tested positive for amphetamines, methamphetamines and cocaine. She had a concentration of 2,990 ng/ml of methamphetamine in her system, according to the affidavit.
Medical records stated that these drugs can cause dizziness, restlessness, headaches, tremors, vomiting and other long- and short-term effects, and that all the symptoms reported by the baby’s parents are consistent with effects from the ingestion of methamphetamines.