Mother Whose Girl Ate Cocaine Gets Probation
A 22-year-old Mission Hills woman was sentenced to three years probation Thursday after she pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment for allowing her 10-month-old daughter to eat rock cocaine off the floor of their motel room.
The sentence was imposed on Celeste Viet by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Meredith Taylor.
Viet was arrested last April when she brought her daughter, Jennifer Waterman, to Holy Cross Medical center and doctors there determined that the child was suffering from cocaine poisoning.
Viet told doctors that she had found a rock cocaine-like substance in her daughter’s mouth while the child was playing on the rug of the motel room where Viet and her boyfriend had recently moved. She said she was not sure what the substance was but that she became worried when her daughter grew pale and started vomiting.
According to court documents, Viet had been using cocaine shortly before the incident.
The child recovered and is now in the custody of her grandmother.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
