A couple from Utah has been tried and convicted after giving their daughter the opioid suboxone on the day she was born in order to mask symptoms of withdrawal from workers at the hospital.
The parents, Colby Glen Wilde, 29, and Lacey Dawn Christenson, 26 of Elk Ridge, pleaded guilty to drug distribution and child abuse charges earlier this year, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
A judge sentenced Wilde to up to 15 years in prison for his crimes in October.
Wilde (left) and Christenson (right) were convicted on charges of child abuse and drug distribution earlier this year
This past Tuesday, Christenson received a similar sentence.
The pair was arrested in July after learning that Christensen used drugs while pregnant – even putting painkillers on the baby’s gums the day she was born in an effort to hide symptoms of addiction, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
‘Wilde and Christenson told investigators they talked to friends about how to mask signs of drug dependence in an infant, and that they discussed this issue with each other,’ authorities said in a statement.
Christensen confessed to police that crushed painkillers found in her home were the same drug given to the baby at the hospital.
Christenson (left) and Wilde (right) will spend up to 15 years behind bars on drug and child abuse charges
Additional drug and child endangerment charges state that the all four of the pair’s children were exposed to drugs and drug paraphernalia in their home.
The couple has had their children placed in the custody of the biological father of Christenson’s oldest child
Police began investigating the couple in June after Wilde fled from a Walmart – he had been accused of trying to return items to the store that he had just taken from the shelves.
As he attempted to escape from store security, Wilde ran into a glass door, dropping a car seat carrier holding his infant daughter in the process. After the car seat carrier rolled a few times, Wilde picked up the carrier, and proceeded to drop it again after colliding with a pillar. He then handed his baby to a stranger and fled.
Christenson, who was in the store with her other children, was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
Child protective services has taken custody of the couple’s four children and placed them in the care of the father of Christenson’s oldest child.