A 21-year-old woman from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was sentenced to 300 days in prison after a video emerged of her giving marijuana to young children, Fox 8 reported.
Michaela Pearson pleaded guilty to three counts of misdemeanor child abuse and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neil.
Pearson and Candice Little, 18, were arrested in August after posting a video of themselves on Snapchat showing them passing a lit marijuana cigarette to three children and encouraging them to smoke it, which the youngsters did.
Local police said the woman was babysitting the children, who were 18 months old, 2 years old and 3 years old at the time.
After the video went viral on social media, officers said they received several complaints of two women giving what appeared to be an illegal substance to children.
Following the arrest, the children were taken to a local hospital and placed under observation.
In a Forsyth County courtroom, Assistant District Attorney Sarah Loebner showed Judge Camille Banks-Prince the video and requested that Pearson be handed the maximum sentence for the crimes, which, under North Carolina law, is 300 days in prison.
Little, who was also charged in the case, is scheduled to appear in court on November 9.
According to North Carolina law, misdemeanor child abuse occurs when "any parent of a child less than 16 years of age, or any other person providing care to or supervision of such child, inflicts physical injury, or who allows physical injury to be inflicted, or who creates or allows to be created a substantial risk of physical injury, upon or to such child by other than accidental means."
Contributing to the delinquency of a child occurs when someone encourages or entices a juvenile to commit a crime—for example, paying a child to break into someone's home and steal something.
It can also refer to instances in which someone leaves a child in a situation where there is known criminal activity and a likelihood that the juvenile will become involved in those crimes.
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