ROCKINGHAM — Investigators with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office say a man gave a child a drink laced with anti-anxiety medication.
According to an arrest warrant, 36-year-old Justin Howell Reynolds, of Cemetery Road in Candor (the address is listed as being in Richmond County), on May 6 put a Xanax pill, a benzodiazepine, into a drink bottle, which was consumed by a child under 10 years of age.
The child reportedly had to be admitted to a hospital.
Investigators say Reynolds also was illegally in possession of two Xanax pills.
He was arrested May 7 and charged with one felony count of distributing food containing a controlled substance; as well as one misdemeanor count each of child abuse and simple possession of a Schedule IV controlled substance.
He was released on bail the following day after being placed under a $20,000 secured bond.
Reynolds is scheduled to appear in court May 20.
Online court records show Reynolds also has a pending charge of misdemeanor larceny and several traffic infractions in Richmond County, and pending misdemeanor drug charges — simple possession of both a Schedule IV and Schedule VI controlled substance — in Moore County.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show Reynolds has been convicted in Montgomery County twice: one count of misdemeanor larceny in 2013; two counts of misdemeanor larceny in 2018. He received probation in both cases.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
