Lakeside police are searching for a man and woman wanted on multiple child endangerment counts after four children younger than 10 tested positive for fentanyl.
The Lakeside Police Department identified Auston Patrick Green, 34, and Cindy Cristina Chevez Batres, 27, in a wanted notice following a joint investigation with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Medical evaluations revealed fentanyl in all four children’s systems, police said. The department did not disclose the children’s exact ages, conditions or relationship to Green and Chevez Batres. Officials have not said how fentanyl entered the children’s systems, what prompted the evaluations or what launched the joint investigation.
“Safeguarding the welfare of children in our community is our highest priority, and we are deeply grateful to our partners at DFPS for their vital collaboration in protecting these children,” the department said.
Police seek public’s help
Tips can be reported to Lakeside police dispatch at 817-246-4973.
The department asked anyone who suspects child abuse, neglect or endangerment to contact local law enforcement or the Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400. DFPS operates the hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People should call 911 if a child faces immediate danger.
Texas law requires Texans who reasonably suspect child abuse or neglect to report it immediately, according to a previous report by The Dallas Express.
What Texas law says
Texas Penal Code §22.041 defines child endangerment as intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence engaging in conduct by act or omission that places a child in imminent danger of death, bodily injury or physical or mental impairment.
The statute creates a presumption of endangerment when a person’s conduct relates to a child’s proximity or access to a Penalty Group 1-B substance, including fentanyl, and a blood, urine or other specimen from the child tests positive for the drug. An offense under that endangerment subsection is a state jail felony.
Police have not publicly released arrest affidavits, case numbers, the number of counts against each suspect or the precise conduct they allege each person committed. The law presumes Green and Chevez Batres innocent unless prosecutors secure convictions.
Provided by Dallas Express
