CLAREMONT — Police have suspended their investigation into an incident at Maple Avenue Elementary, where a student brought home a container with traces of methamphetamine and fentanyl last month.
A 7-year-old girl gave a purple, silicone container to a classmate, who brought it home with them. The classmate’s parent contacted the school with concerns, and Claremont Police became involved on Sept. 17, according to Chief Brent Wilmot.
With residual amounts of the controlled substance in the container, police were able to conduct a field test, which indicated positive results for fentanyl and methamphetamine, he said.
That evening, the school district, SAU 6, notified parents of what happened, urging them to carefully monitor the contents of their children’s backpacks.
“The child who received the substance was not harmed, and police were able to quickly track down the source of the container and address the first child’s welfare,” stated the district’s message to parents, which was shared with the Valley News.
Wilmot believes this was an isolated incident, he said. While it occurred about three weeks ago, some community members have recently expressed concern over safety at the school in a Facebook thread.
“It came as a little bit of a surprise to me that it was coming back with such fervor this morning,” said Wilmot.
Investigating the incident, police interviewed every parent whose child may have come in contact with the container, said Wilmot. The parent of the 7-year-old who initially had the container participated in two interviews and police visited their home.
What police know is that one student brought the container in and another ended up with it, from a classroom of under 10 students, said Wilmot. He is not aware of any adverse health impacts as a result.
The SAU notification also confirmed that the incident had been “limited to a small space and short period of time.”
Inside the container was a residual amount of the controlled substance, which is not enough for police to quantify, said Wilmot. The silicone object is commonly associated with storing drugs, but may not appear dangerous.
“A small, young child might look at that as a toy,” said Wilmot.
Police have not been able to determine where the container came from, and there is no evidence to this point that the child brought it from home. There is also no evidence pointing to another source.
No charges have been brought forward with regard to the incident.
As police searched for evidence sufficient to prosecute someone for a crime, the Division for Children, Youth and Families searched for evidence of child abuse or neglect. The status of that investigation is unclear, said Wilmot, but police have suspended theirs pending more information.
The statute of limitation for endangering welfare of a child is one year from the date of the offense, and possession of a controlled substance of that nature is six years. Claremont Police may pursue charges if more information comes to light in the future, said Wilmot.
