Woman supplies marijuana to her children, gets arrested after video showing them smoking goes viral on Snapchat
DESERT SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA: A California mother was arrested on Wednesday, July 17, for allegedly supplying marijuana to her young children. The development came after a disturbing video, which showed two of her children smoking marijuana from a pipe at their home, started circulating on Snapchat.
Desert Springs Police Department (DSPD) was alerted about Elaina Kabler, 39, of Desert Springs, after they received several messages from concerned citizens about the video making the rounds on Snapchat, according to a press release.
Two of her three children — a six-year-old boy, and two girls aged 11 and 12 — could be seen smoking weed in the video.
One of them was reportedly the 12-year-old, who was filmed taking several hits from a yellow pipe before passing it on to her younger brother. The six-year-old can then be seen lighting the pipe and smoking from it as his siblings and mother watch.
Andrea Solomon, a mother from Hot Springs with two children of her own, was one of those who saw the video and reported it to the police, reported KESQ.
"I noticed that the boy looked very young and if you hear in the background it sounds like he could barely even enunciate or speak correctly and that brought an alarm to me and made me want to send it in as well," she said.
She also expressed her fear that the recent legalization of recreational marijuana in the state might lead to a more "lax" attitude amongst parents.
"I’m sure it’s going to be something that’s going on that a lot of people don’t see as wrong...but as you can see in the video, it affects the growth ability and speaking ability...it’s bad," she said.
The DSPD opened an investigation into Kabler after the reports and a warrant was issued for her arrest on Wednesday. She was arrested from her home at 66000 blocks of Third St, Desert Springs, on the same day.
The 39-year-old is facing three counts of supplying marijuana to a child under 12 and three counts of child endangerment, the latter of which was for allegedly using the children to sell weed.
Although the woman pleaded not guilty to the charges on Friday, July 19, prosecutors filed for a protective order that would keep her away from her children until at least July 2022.
She is currently being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Riverside County Superior Court on July 30 for a felony settlement conference.
Investigators have urged to people with further information about the video or Kabler's alleged crimes to contact the Desert Hot Springs Police Department at 760-329-2904.