Charges against mom fail to stick

BEND, Ore. – A 19-year-old Bend woman charged with passing methamphetamine to her infant through her umbilical cord cannot be prosecuted under Oregon law, a judge has ruled.

“While this court believes the use of methamphetamine by a pregnant woman is a moral outrage against one’s child, this court concludes nevertheless that it is not a crime under Oregon law,” Deschutes County District Court Judge Stephen Tiktin said Thursday, dismissing the charges.

An indictment was filed against Mary Lou Cervantes last year, after her baby tested positive for methamphetamine, according to Bend police.

Because health care providers are required to report suspected child abuse, hospital workers contacted the state Department of Human Services when the baby was born in September 2004.

The young mother was charged with causing a person to ingest a controlled substance, applying a controlled substance to a minor and recklessly endangering another.

Cervantes’ attorney, Karla Nash, asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that her client had not committed a crime under Oregon law. Oregon statutes, she said, do not sufficiently inform pregnant women who ingest controlled substances that they can be prosecuted if their babies test positive for drugs after birth.

Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Victoria Roe argued the Oregon Legislature intended to protect children from exposure to drugs when it passed laws against delivering controlled substances to minors.

Cervantes’ lawyer countered that any drugs that were in her system were taken before the child was born, constituting prenatal exposure – and Oregon law does not provide protection for a fetus in criminal cases.