WEBER COUNTY, Utah – Three children have been taken into protective custody, and their parents were arrested for various charges after a teacher found a meth pipe with a book reader turned in by an 8-year-old student.
According to a press release from the Weber County Sheriff’s Office, a school resource officer responded to Roosevelt Elementary School in Washington Terrace Wednesday afternoon, where a teacher presented a meth pipe that she had found in a plastic baggie with a book reader turned in by a third-grade student.
The deputy went to the 8-year-old student’s nearby home and made contact with her family. Police learned all three adults in the home (the children’s parents and their grandmother) were using illegal narcotics, “and some of this drug use was occurring in the presence of three young children.”
The Department of Child and Family Services was contacted to assist, and a search warrant was obtained.
Police found drugs and drug paraphernalia in the home, some of which was located in the same area as children’s toys. An item of drug paraphernalia was found under the pillow on a child’s bed.
The owner of the home, the children’s 59-year-old grandmother, told police she had been using illegal drugs and might have accidentally dropped the meth pipe into the student’s book bag.
Both parents, 46-year-old Bryce Floyd Tyler and 39-year-old Joanne Wiese Tyler, were arrested on multiple charges that include child endangerment as a third-degree felony, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The grandmother was not arrested due to health issues, though the press release notes charges are pending against her. The woman was not identified.
While executing the search warrant for drug related offenses, detectives also learned Bryce Tyler is registered as a sex offender from California, and, after locating “pornography and other disturbing items of a sexual nature”, a second search warrant was drafted.
The release states: “Evidence was seized and is being processed which could result in additional charges if any child pornography is discovered.”
The 8-year-old girl, a 2-year-old boy, and a 20-month-old boy are safe and have been placed in protective custody.
The parents are currently being held in the Weber County Jail.
