1-year-old ingests fentanyl, Butler man charged
A Butler man is facing felony charges after police said a 1-year-old girl ingested narcotics under his supervision.
On Monday, Butler Township police charged Nicholas W. Gentry, 26, with felony child endangerment and misdemeanor reckless endangerment following an April incident.
According to charging documents, police and medical crews responded to a report of a child ingesting over-the-counter pills at Gentry’s home. Gentry told police the child was nodding off and her eyes were rolling into the back of her head.
The child was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for further evaluation. Two days later, the hospital reported to police that fentanyl had been found in the child’s system.
Police said that during an interview with Child and Youth Services, Gentry admitted to watching the child ingest something he believed to be drugs. Gentry also tested positive for fentanyl, according to the affidavit.
In June, a search warrant was obtained for Gentry’s Google search history on the date of the incident. Some of the searches included, “what happens if (a) baby eats an opiate,” “baby found an opioid at my house and ate it can I go to jail,” “what kin of drug test does cys use,” “how long will 30 mg of Fentanyl stay in your system,” and similar phrases.
Police said Gentry admitted to using Percocet at home during a follow-up interview in June.
“(Gentry) stated he was not high the date of the incident but was getting high on Percocet at his house the day before,” the investigating officer said. “Lastly, (Gentry) talked about CYS giving him the drug test. ... He (said) he did take it to come clean about him taking drugs.”
As of Tuesday, Gentry has not yet been arrested and a preliminary hearing has not been scheduled.
