An infant’s parents are facing child abuse charges after they were allegedly found with a syringe and smoking device while with their child was in the pediatric unit of a Sentara Hospital in York County, police said.
Christopher Trueblood, 34, of James City County, and Kayla Branch, 20, of Lanexa, are both charged with felony abuse and neglect of children. Branch was also charged with misdemeanor unauthorized possession of drug paraphernalia, according to York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Shelley Ward.
The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office responded to the Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, located on Sentara Circle in York County, around 8 a.m. on Aug. 20 after a nurse said they saw the couple was in possession of a syringe, according to Ward.
Branch and Trueblood were in the pediatric ward with their child when the nurse allegedly saw the paraphernalia, Ward said. The nurse alerted hospital security and police.
The infant was in the hospital with an “unknown illness” at the time, police said.
When police responded, they located a syringe and a four-inch-long “glass tubular smoking device” with a residual white substance inside of it, according to Ward.
It is not clear if any alleged drug use occurred within the hospital, Ward said.
Branch is scheduled to appear in York General District Court at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 6 on a possession of drug paraphernalia charge. Child abuse charges against Branch and Trueblood are in the Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, records for which are not accessible to the public.
