N.C. Mom Charged After Viral Video Apparently Shows 1-Year-Old Smoking Marijuana
Criminal charges have been filed in North Carolina against a 20-year-old mother whose toddler was apparently seen smoking marijuana in video footage posted to Facebook that went viral, PEOPLE confirms.
More than 1.5 million people watched the video — and many of them contacted authorities, who began investigating the mother, who appears to have been the one who posted the video, a statement from Raleigh police says.
The 10-second clip shows the child, who is 1, in a car seat as an adult’s hand enters the frame holding what police allege is a marijuana cigarette.
The adult holds the joint to the child’s lips. The child inhales and lets out a puff of white smoke.
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“Raleigh Police Department officers have arrested Brianna Ashanti Lofton, the mother of the baby seen smoking in a video posted on Facebook,” reads the statement. “She was charged with two counts of felony child abuse, contributing to delinquency, and possession of marijuana and transported to the Wake County Detention Center.”
The child is now a ward of the state.
“Big thanks to everyone who posted information about the smoking mother and baby,” reads a post to the Raleigh Police Department’s Facebook page. “Thanks to your willingness to get involved, the child is now safe and the mother is in police custody.”
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It was unclear if Lofton had entered a plea to the charges against her.
The footage apparently dates back to early December.
Efforts to reach Lofton’s attorney were unsuccessful Thursday.
She is being held on $100,000 bond.
