TODDLER BONG DISGRACE

LAUGHING TEEN BLOWS SMOKE IN CHILD’S FACE

A TOWNSVILLE teenager has sparked online outrage after a video of her blowing smoke from a bong into her two-and-a-half-year-old brother’s face emerged online.

Townsville Police were inundated with calls from the public and homed in on the 17-year-old Heatley girl within an hour of being notified.

Child safety advocates have slammed the behaviour.

A TOWNSVILLE teenager has been dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act for blowing marijuana smoke into the face of a toddler in a viral video.

Child Protection and Investigation Unit officer-in-charge Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Miles sprang into action yesterday afternoon and found the 17-year-old Heatley teenager who was captured in the video.

The video appears to show a young woman taking a draw of marijuana from a homemade bong before looking at a little boy, aged two and a half years, and blowing it directly in his face. She was dealt with on drug-related offences.

The child, who is the teenager’s brother, appears to look away before getting to his feet and trying to leave.

The person behind the camera and the woman start laughing.

Det Sen-sgt Miles said the girl had no particular excuse for exposing her brother to the smoke, saying it was “an act of stupidity on her part”.

“Quite frankly, it was appalling … this is a teenager who, through an act of stupidity and misguided belief it was humorous on her part, resulted in the child being exposed to unnecessary harm,” he said.

The video is time stamped as April 24 but was posted to social media yesterday.

It has attracted a raft of disgusted comments since it was posted and has already gained thousands of shares and more than 200,000 views.

Act for Kids executive director Stephen Beckett said he watched the video in complete shock.

“It’s pretty confronting … I am just shocked that people would introduce drugs to such young people and would go film it,” he said.

Mr Beckett said children who were exposed to drugs at an early age were more likely to become drug users as adults.

Det Sen-sgt Miles said the Department of Child Safety was investigating further.