US mother charged after toddler daughter taking heroin to day care center

WASHINGTON - A 30-year-old mother in the US state of Delaware has been charged with child endangerment and drug possession after her toddler daughter took packets of heroin to her day care center, Delaware State Police said Tuesday.

The mother, Ashley Tull, of Selbyville, mistakenly gave her 4- year-old girl a different backpack as the regular one was broken by the family pet, local media reported.

The girl passed some of nearly 250 packets of heroin to her classmates after arriving at the day care center Monday morning because she mistook them as candies, the reports said.

None of the packets of heroin, totaling about 4 grams, was opened and no harm was done to the kids at the day care center. Tull was later charged with three counts of child endangerment and possessing a drug property. She was arraigned on Monday and released on a bond of 6,000 US dollars.

No further details were released on the case. Tull's sister Alicia Tull told local media that Tull was innocent because she does not use or deal drugs and did not know who stored the drugs in her home.