Emaciated Teen Removed From Father's Custody
DEERFIELD BEACH (CBSMiami) – A 14-year-old boy who was found emaciated and high on drugs has been put into the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services after a shelter hearing Friday.
The boy's father, Darin MacDannald, 47, of Deerfield Beach, was arrested and charged with child neglect. He was allowed to have supervised visitation if he gets out of jail. The child's mother was not in court; she lives in Colorado.
The teenager was initially taken to Broward Health Coral Springs for smoke inhalation. But investigators said Emergency Room Doctors determined the child was malnourished and had unexplained red blotches on both of his legs that were not a result of injuries from the structure fire.
Medical workers said the teen had dirty clothes and under examination his eyes were dialated and was unresponsive to questioning. A drug screen of the teen tested positive for barbiturates, opiates, cocaine, and marijuana and appeared to have overdosed on the substances, the police report said.
According to the police report, the teen had several pills, a cigarette, and a red makeup case on him. The pills were determined to be butalbital with codeine, alprazolam, and oxycodone. The makeup case tested positive for cocaine.
Deputies asked MacDannald how the teen got the pills. MacDanalld told deputies he has a prescription for the medications and that he hid the pills so the teen couldn't get them. MacDannald said he didn't know how the teen got the pills or the cocaine.
The Broward Sheriff's Office said the fire is still under investigation. A judge set MacDannald's bond at $7500.
All of the parties will come back August 2 for mediation.
