Couple arrested in California after toddler ingests Ecstasy

The Associated Press

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.—A nurse was charged with felony child abuse Thursday after her 2-year-old daughter ingested Ecstasy and went into a hallucinogenic fit, authorities said.
Shannon K. Leasure, 30, and her firefighter boyfriend, Mark A. Rumble, 46, were each being held on $500,000 bail. The two were arrested Tuesday night while vacationing with her toddler at Lake Arrowhead from Reno, Nev.

It was unclear whether Leasure, who was scheduled to be arraigned Friday in San Bernardino Superior Court, had retained an attorney. She faces up to six years in prison if convicted of the charge.

The toddler remained hospitalized at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Officials declined to release her condition because of patient privacy laws, but her father, Adrian Leasure, told the Reno Gazette-Journal she is in good condition.

The father, also a firefighter, said there was no indication the girl would suffer permanent damage.

"It just breaks my heart," he said.

Shannon Leasure allegedly brought Ecstasy along on her vacation, sheriff's Sgt. Rick Ells said. It wasn't clear where the Ecstasy was stored, how the girl obtained it or how much she swallowed, he said.

After ingesting the drug, the girl suffered hallucinations and seizures, authorities said. Firefighters were called to the vacation home and the girl was taken to the hospital.

Detectives have referred her case to the county's child protective services department, said sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller.

Ecstasy is a mildly psychedelic derivative of amphetamine. Ingestion of the drug can cause increased body temperature, seizures from increased central nervous system activity and muscle damage when a lack of fluids causes muscles to break down, San Bernardino County Health Officer Margaret M. Beed said.

In extreme cases, Ecstasy use can lead to kidney failure and cardiac arrhythmia, Beed said.



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