Three children who were exposed to a poisonous home methamphetamine lab were treated at Lexington Medical Center and are now in emergency protective care, the Lexington County Sheriff’s office said.
The children, ages two, 11 and 12, had been exposed to methamphetamine and hazardous chemicals that are used to manufacture methamphetamine, said Sheriff Jimmy Metts.
The children were taken into custody Monday after the Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team arrested a Pelion man, a Lexington woman and a Swansea man in connection with operating a clandestine methamphetamine lab.
Officers found the lab in a shed outside a home on S.C. 6 near Lexington.
Metts identified the suspects as Wade William Brentlinger. 29, of 1088 Forts Pond Road, Pelion; Garry Paul Creech, 52, of 368 Whetstone Road, Swansea; and Melissa Denise Derrick, 32, of 3309 Highway 6, Lexington.
The lab was at Derrick’s house, Metts said.
Brentlinger, Creech and Derrick each were being held on Tuesday at the Lexington County Detention Center while awaiting bond hearings.
All are charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and unlawfully disposing of waste from a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory. Waste from a lab is often poisonous and can contaminate the environment.
Derrick is also charged with unlawfully exposing children to methamphetamine.
Brentlinger is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The raid Monday at Derrick’s house came hours after officers received information there was a meth lab at Derrick’s house. The shed contained equipment and chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine.
Meth is a highly addictive drug. Although much meth in South Carolina is now smuggled in from Mexico, people still make it in their homes using items and equipment bought locally. Many chemicals used in making the drug are toxic.
The three children received treatment on Monday at Lexington Medical Center for exposure to methamphetamine, Metts said. The South Carolina Department of Social Services took custody of the children after the children were released from the hospital.
In recent years, so many children around the state had been exposed to poisons at home meth labs that state and local officials have developed sophisticated procedures to treat them after authorities arrest their parents are guardians.
For example, protocols call for meth children to be given new clothes immediately because their old clothes can be saturated with meth poisons.
Children exposed to meth can suffer brain damage and have learning disabilities, studies have found.
(Reach Monk at 803-771-8344.)
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