Carson City arrests: Man jailed after 18-month old son ingested an opiate, became unconscious and nearly died
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Wed, 11/02/2022 - 11:06am
A 64-year-old man was arrested Tuesday for a felony warrant alleging two counts sexual assault of a child under 14 and three other alleged felony sex crimes associated with children, according to a Carson City Sheriff's Office report.
Maurice Edward Scott, listed as a Carson City resident, was taken into custody at 4:14 p.m. after his vehicle, a black Suburban, was located in the parking lot of an East William Street grocery store.
Among the other alleged charges in the warrant were felony lewdness by a person over 18 with a child less than 14, child abuse as a result of sex abuse or exploitation and attempted lewdness by a person over 18 with a child less than 14.
According to the booking report, a deputy was notified the suspect was in the area of William Street and Roop. The deputy located the suspect's vehicle in the grocery store parking lot and waited for Scott to get into the driver seat of the vehicle, where the deputy then approached vehicle, made contact and made the arrest for the warrant. Bail: $250,000.
In other arrests:
— A 32-year-old man, Ronny Lee Griffin, listed from Gardnerville, was arrested Tuesday for suspicion of child abuse, neglect, endangerment with substantial bodily harm after his 18-month old son ingested an opiate, became unconscious and nearly died.
According to the booking report, deputies responded Oct. 31 to Carson Tahoe Hospital related to suspicious circumstances of an 18-month old child coming into the hospital due to an opiate overdose. The child was brought to the hospital emergency room by his mother and suspect Ronny Griffin, the child's father.
The child was reported to be unconscious and blue in color when brought to the hospital. The investigating deputy was advised by hospital staff that the child had to be provided Narcan in order to sustain his life.
Due to the severe medical state of the child during assessment by Carson Tahoe Hospital staff, the child was transported to Renown Medical Center for further treatment. The deputy was advised by medical staff that the child needed a "Narcan drip" while transported by ambulance to continuously counteract the effects of opiate overdose during transport, the report states.
The investigating deputy spoke with the mother and Griffin about what happened. Griffin at first told a CCSO detective that he believed the child found an unknown pill on the ground in a parking lot and had eaten the pill where, he said he tried to get the pill out of the child's mouth, but was unsuccessful.
Griffin was arrested for a warrant unrelated to the investigation. The child's mother was also interviewed by the CCSO detective and she explained that she and Griffin are both illicit drug abuse and admitted she and Griffin had used cocaine over the past few days. She stated she was also a heroin addict and had purchased Suboxone in her purse off the street to counteract her drug cravings. She also admitted she abuses Xanax and said Ronny Griffin has a history of Fentanyl and alcohol abuse.
A search of the woman's vehicle yielded a methamphetamine pipe and Suboxone in a purse. The vehicle was dirty with the child's snacks and old bottles thrown about the vehicle. A few loose Tylenol pills were found in the center console of the vehicle.
The investigating CCSO detective went to Renown to gather further information about the child's medical treatment. The child was admitted to the hospital and being monitored for opiate overdose. The medical staff explained the main treatment was the use of Narcan. The information clearly indicated the child had ingested an opiate that caused the overdose. The deputy was advised that, had the child not received medical attention, he would have died to opiate overdose, the arrest report states.
A safe plan was created with child and family services to remove the child from direct care of his parents pending further criminal investigation.
The investigating CCSO detective interviewed Griffin at Carson City Jail. The man admitted to illicit drug use, including Fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and alcohol abuse. He was cooperative in the interview ad admitted he lied when he initially told deputies that the child ingested a pill from the ground found in a parking lot. He said he didn't know what the child ingested but was sure whatever the child ingested he had found it inside the vehicle, the report states.
Griffin explained the child was playing throughout the entire interior of the vehicle and not in the parking lot when he found the pills he had eaten. Griffin said he knew that whatever the chid ingested had to be an opiate since Narcan counteracted the effects of the overdose, the report states.
Due to the drugs found in the couple's vehicle and the child's ability to freely access the interior of the vehicle where the drugs were located and Griffin's admission that what the child ingested inside the vehicle required Narcan, which indicated he ingested an opiate, Griffin was charged with suspicion of child endangerment causing substantial bodily harm. Criminal charges are pending related to the mothers involvement in the investigation. Bail: $40,000.
— All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.
