Mom sentenced after child ingests marijuana

A Pottstown woman faces court supervision on child endangerment charges after detectives alleged her 2-yearold son suffered symptoms of marijuana intoxication while in her care.

Nadirah Phillips, 26, of the first block of Custer Court, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to four years’ probation after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child in connection with a February 2017 incident at her residence.

Judge Thomas C. Branca, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Phillips to complete 24 hours of community service. Phillips also must attend and complete parenting classes, the judge said.

An investigation began about 12:50 p.m. Feb. 5, 2017, when borough police were dispatched to the Custer Court home to assist emergency medical responders with an unconscious 2-year-old boy. At that time, Phillips denied that the child could have come into contact with something that would have caused the reaction.

The child was transported to Pottstown Hospital Tower Health where a urine test determined he had marijuana in his system, according to the criminal complaint filed by Pottstown Detective Heather Long. Several hours later, the charge nurse explained the presence of marijuana would explain why the child was still lethargic 2 ½ hours after being admitted.

“The charge nurse also noted that (the child’s) symptoms were consistent with an amount of marijuana that could not be obtained by inhaling smoke alone, but most likely by ingesting, eating,” Long wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Due to the child’s slow recovery, he was transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for additional treatment where doctors determined the child’s behaviors were reminiscent of marijuana intoxication.

“They also advised this level of intoxication would have been generated by eat-

ing marijuana, not second hand smoke,” Long alleged. “The exposure to marijuana would have been within six hours prior to when the child exhibited symptoms of intoxication and lost consciousness.”

On Feb. 14, Phillips provided a written statement to detectives indicating she had returned home no later than 2 a.m. on Feb. 5 and that no one other than she and her two children were in the home. Phillips admitted to using marijuana at a party Feb. 4 into the early morning hours of Feb. 5, according to the criminal complaint.

Phillips said once she noticed her son acting “weird” she did not call 911 but contacted the child’s father via a Facetime app. The child’s father subsequently called 911 for his son after he observed him via Facetime, court papers indicate.

Detectives concluded that the child was in Phillips care and only her care from about 2 a.m. Feb. 5 until emergency medical officials responded to the home later that morning. No other adults cared for the child during almost 11 hours, detectives alleged.

“Based on the timeline provided by medical staff, Phillips was the only adult in the care and control of the child during the time he would have ingested the marijuana,” Long alleged. “Finally, marijuana is what caused (the child) to be lethargic and for all intents and purposes exhibit behaviors of someone who is ‘high.’”

Other charges of recklessly endangering another person and possession of a small amount of marijuana were dismissed against Phillips as part of the plea agreement.