Man Held for Court on Charges Related to Infant Child Ingesting THC

| April 5, 2018

OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – An Oil City man facing charges after his infant son’s blood tests confirmed the presence of marijuana and nicotine was held for court on Wednesday in Venango County Central Court.

According to court documents, Joshua Mark Fornof, 22, and Jubilee Antoinet Downing,, 20, also of Oil City, are facing misdemeanor child endangerment charges in the case.

According to a criminal complaint filed on Friday, March 16, Oil City Police Officer Hargenrader was called to the emergency room at UPMC Northwest around 7:17 p.m. on January 7 for a report of an unresponsive infant.

The child was taken to the ER by his grandmother after his parents couldn’t wake him after his nap.

According to the complaint, the child had eaten the tips off of markers before his nap. Officer Hargenrader was informed the infant was very lethargic and was going to be flown to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh soon.

At UPMC Northwest, Downing gave Officer Hargenrader the following timeline of the events of the day:

– 10:00 a.m.: She and her children woke up at home that morning when Fornof arrived. She said her son appeared to be acting normally during the morning. She then sent him to his bedroom to watch TV while she cooked food, the complaint states.
– 2:00 p.m.: Downing said she went to get her son to eat, and he was sleeping. She tried to wake him up, but he seemed very sleepy and grouchy, so she let him sleep.
– 3:00 p.m.: She tried to wake him up again but with the same results.
– 4:00 p.m.: She found her son awake, but acting strange – sluggish, groggy and grouchy. Downing then called her mother who took the infant to the hospital.

Downing told Officer Hargenrader that no one else had been in the house all day, except for her, Fornof, and both children.

She also said that her son hadn’t been outside prior to the trip to the hospital.

When Officer Hargenrader was at the ER, the staff told him that the child’s blood test revealed the presence of THC (marijuana) and nicotine. The infant was flown to Pittsburgh for further treatment.

Downing told Officer Hargenrader that “they don’t use marijuana anymore and didn’t know where the child could have got it,” the complaint states.

When Officer Hargenrader received a copy of the child’s blood work from Children’s Hospital on January 9, it confirmed the presence of THC in his blood, according to the complaint.

The charges against Fornof were held for court on Wednesday by Judge Andrew Fish.

Downing faces a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, April 18, at 1:30 p.m. in front of Judge Fish.

Both individuals are free on unsecured bail.


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