A Californian mother Brianna Ashanti Lofton, was arrested on Wednesday after two videos began to go viral on Facebook, showing a baby smoking marijuana.
Brianna 20 years of age who stayed at the 4700 block of Caldera Lane in North Carolina, was charged with two counts of felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, plus two counts of contributing to delinquency and possession of marijuana.
She was transferred to the Wake County Detention Centre and placed under a $100,000 bond.
The baby was placed with Wake County Child Protective Services.
In the videos, an adult’s hand can be seen holding a brown cigar or cigarette to the baby’s mouth. The baby is seen blowing out smoke in both videos.
Raleigh police warrants said Lofton was accused of “causing, encouraging and aiding a one-year-old child to smoke a marijuana blunt” on December 1, 2017.
Lofton had been arrested previously for simple assault in August last year and simple affray in August and in July of last year.
Raleigh residents and others began posting the video and comments on the Raleigh police Facebook page just after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Lt. Jason Hodge of Raleigh Police stated, “We welcome and encourage any assistance the public is willing to give us at all times.”
Fendi Sheed a Facebook user shared screenshots and videos from “Bree Bhadd’s” page of a child apparently smoking.
“Get her arrested and report her page,” Sheed wrote. “Warning: This video is very graphic.”
Another Facebook user, LaTorra Walker, also shared screenshots and videos of the alleged incident on Facebook.
After Raleigh police posted on Facebook thanking the community for bringing the video to their attention, Sheed wrote: “I’m glad I could help spread this awareness and get this woman taken down and the baby in good hands. That was my sole purpose for posting it. I’m not a hero, I just didn’t want that baby suffering like that anymore.”
The mother’s Facebook page says she lives in Raleigh, attended Garner High School and is originally from New Bern.
“Big thanks to everyone who posted information about the smoking mother and baby,” the Raleigh Police Department wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
“Thanks to your willingness to get involved, the child is now safe and the mother is in police custody,” the Raleigh Police Department in relation to the incident.
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