July 10, 2007, 3:08PM
Deputies rounding up teens in toddler drug video
By MELANIE MARKLEY
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
<!-- rbox goes here --><!-- rbox ends here -->Authorities say they have located the teens who appeared in an online video teasing a toddler and saying she had taken the drug Ecstasy while sitting on the floorboard of a moving vehicle.
Child Protective Services spokewoman Estella Olguin confirmed today that the Harris County Sheriff's Office has identified the people in the video and was in the process of rounding them up for questioning.
All apparently are from Houston.
Investigators also are determining the welfare of the two children shown in the video, including the toddler and an infant, who is seen being handed from one person to another in the back seat of the car.
The video originally appeared on YouTube but was removed.
Various clues in the video — a map and a Houston radio station broadcast — had gotten the sheriffs' departments in Harris and Jackson counties involved in the investigation. FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said her agency also is looking into the matter.
Passenger denies claim
An e-mail purportedly written by the camera operator says the girl wasn't given any drugs. The e-mail doesn't include the author's real name.
Still, Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. John Martin said he is disturbed by what he sees in the two-minute and 28-second video.
A child who appears to be about 2 is sitting on the back-seat floor of the car and rolling her eyes back until only the whites are showing. A young woman in the car taps and squeezes the little girl's cheeks, telling her to stop rolling her eyes.
"Cookie, stop rolling, girl," she said. "You shouldn't have popped no x."
Most of the young women appear to be teens. But at least one adult is believed to be in the car.
While the toddler rolls her eyes, the women continue to laugh and poke fun at the girl, frequently using expletives.
Martin said it's unclear if the child is actually on Ecstasy, a dangerous stimulant and hallucinogen. But he said there definitely appears to be something wrong with the toddler. Also, he said, it's obvious that neither of the children in the car is in a child safety seat.
"These people are endangering these children for their own amusement," said Martin.
CPS is concerned
Harris County authorities are investigating the video because an announcer on the car radio is heard giving the call letters KHCB FM, which is a Christian station in Houston. An instrumental version of Jesus Loves Me is playing in the background.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office also is investigating because a Jackson County map can be seen protruding from a pocket on the back of the car's front seat. Bonnie BeMent, assistant general manager of the KHCB network, said her 100,000-watt station reaches into portions of Jackson County.
Olguin said her agency stands ready to launch its own investigation. She said CPS is very concerned about the welfare of the children.
Although the video was removed from YouTube, it has reappeared on a variety of Web sites, including Parents Behaving Badly and Digg. The video has drawn international outrage.
Several of the people making comments said they had contacted authorities and demanded an investigation.
One of the young women on the video, a 17-year-old known as Cool Bean'sz, has a MySpace account, Olguin said. She said the girl's profile originally indicated she was from southwest Houston. But as the controversy grew, she revised it to say she was from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
On one of the message boards, an e-mail apparently written by Cool Bean'sz said the whole thing was a joke. Her friend's niece kept rolling her eyes as if she were on Ecstasy, she said, and so they decided to record her.
She said she put the video on YouTube so she could link it to her MySpace page.
"Then like a week later," she said, "all these little no life retardts (sic) R sending me messages talking (expletive)."
Olguin said her agency wants to find out for itself whether the video was a joke.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4955051.html
Deputies rounding up teens in toddler drug video
By MELANIE MARKLEY
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
<!-- rbox goes here --><!-- rbox ends here -->Authorities say they have located the teens who appeared in an online video teasing a toddler and saying she had taken the drug Ecstasy while sitting on the floorboard of a moving vehicle.
Child Protective Services spokewoman Estella Olguin confirmed today that the Harris County Sheriff's Office has identified the people in the video and was in the process of rounding them up for questioning.
All apparently are from Houston.
Investigators also are determining the welfare of the two children shown in the video, including the toddler and an infant, who is seen being handed from one person to another in the back seat of the car.
The video originally appeared on YouTube but was removed.
Various clues in the video — a map and a Houston radio station broadcast — had gotten the sheriffs' departments in Harris and Jackson counties involved in the investigation. FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said her agency also is looking into the matter.
Passenger denies claim
An e-mail purportedly written by the camera operator says the girl wasn't given any drugs. The e-mail doesn't include the author's real name.
Still, Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. John Martin said he is disturbed by what he sees in the two-minute and 28-second video.
A child who appears to be about 2 is sitting on the back-seat floor of the car and rolling her eyes back until only the whites are showing. A young woman in the car taps and squeezes the little girl's cheeks, telling her to stop rolling her eyes.
"Cookie, stop rolling, girl," she said. "You shouldn't have popped no x."
Most of the young women appear to be teens. But at least one adult is believed to be in the car.
While the toddler rolls her eyes, the women continue to laugh and poke fun at the girl, frequently using expletives.
Martin said it's unclear if the child is actually on Ecstasy, a dangerous stimulant and hallucinogen. But he said there definitely appears to be something wrong with the toddler. Also, he said, it's obvious that neither of the children in the car is in a child safety seat.
"These people are endangering these children for their own amusement," said Martin.
CPS is concerned
Harris County authorities are investigating the video because an announcer on the car radio is heard giving the call letters KHCB FM, which is a Christian station in Houston. An instrumental version of Jesus Loves Me is playing in the background.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office also is investigating because a Jackson County map can be seen protruding from a pocket on the back of the car's front seat. Bonnie BeMent, assistant general manager of the KHCB network, said her 100,000-watt station reaches into portions of Jackson County.
Olguin said her agency stands ready to launch its own investigation. She said CPS is very concerned about the welfare of the children.
Although the video was removed from YouTube, it has reappeared on a variety of Web sites, including Parents Behaving Badly and Digg. The video has drawn international outrage.
Several of the people making comments said they had contacted authorities and demanded an investigation.
One of the young women on the video, a 17-year-old known as Cool Bean'sz, has a MySpace account, Olguin said. She said the girl's profile originally indicated she was from southwest Houston. But as the controversy grew, she revised it to say she was from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
On one of the message boards, an e-mail apparently written by Cool Bean'sz said the whole thing was a joke. Her friend's niece kept rolling her eyes as if she were on Ecstasy, she said, and so they decided to record her.
She said she put the video on YouTube so she could link it to her MySpace page.
"Then like a week later," she said, "all these little no life retardts (sic) R sending me messages talking (expletive)."
Olguin said her agency wants to find out for itself whether the video was a joke.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4955051.html
