RI Father Charged With Getting 3 Fifth-Graders Drunk
BURRILLVILLE, R.I. (CBS/AP) — A Rhode Island man is facing charges after police say he got three fifth grade girls drunk earlier this week.
Paul White of Burriville will be arraigned Wednesday on three counts of procuring alcohol to a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
He was arrested at his home Tuesday after police investigated a complaint from White's neighbors.
Chrystal Chamberlain and Jamie Taft claim White got their 10-year-old daughter, White's daughter and a third girl drunk at his home Monday.
"We said you can go and play till 9:30 then you can come home," Taft told WPRI-TV. "She didn't come home at 9:30 so we went looking for her."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports
They eventually found her.
"Completely inebriated, she was out of it," Chamberlain said. "She was slurring her speech, she was stumbling. She was emotional. She was just drunk , she was completely drunk."
All three girls ended up in the hospital Monday night. Chamberlain said a Breathalyzer test showed her daughter's blood-alcohol level was 0.084.
All three girls have recovered.
Chamberlain and Taft allege White bought vodka for the girls and even poured them shots.
White admitted to TV news reporters to getting drunk while watching the girls Monday, but denied giving the children alcohol and said they must have gotten into the booze when he wasn't looking.
"I would never feed them the alcohol," White told WPRI-TV before he was arrested Tuesday. "I think they just got into it."
He denied pouring shots for the girls.
"No, God no," he said. "I would never give the girls alcohol like that. Are you kidding?"
White, who is transgender and goes by the name Christina, spent the night in police custody. He will be arraigned Wednesday in Providence District Court.
Authorities say White's daughter is now in the custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
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