GREAT FALLS — Andrea Marie Lopez and Damien Michael McCurdy have been charged with endangering the welfare of children in Great Falls.
Court documents state the officers began investigating after receiving information that Lopez and McCurdy had been using meth in the presence of or very near children.
Both suspects provided urine samples, which tested negative for meth. Hair samples were then collected from Lopez and McCurdy and the five children in their household. Results from the hair sample tested positive for meth for Lopez, McCurdy, and three of the five children.
When interviewed by police, Lopez admitted that she had used meth twice in recent months, and it was not in the presence of or near the children. However, court documents state that Lopez said in both cases, she returned home and made contact with the three younger children while wearing the same clothes she had been wearing when she smoked meth.
McCurdy admitted snorting meth about 10 times within the last three months. He said that he only did it inside the trailer where he had been staying, and the children were outside. He did admit that he made contact with the children while wearing the same clothes that he had been wearing when he ingested the meth.
Both admitted to being around the children within 24 hours of ingesting meth.
Lopez and McCurdy both said they did not realize that meth residue could be transmitted via the surface of clothing.
Both are charged with one felony count of endangering the welfare of a child.
NOTE: The information above is from court documents and/or publicly-available information filed in the case, and do not necessarily provide all of the information relevant to the case. Defendants are considered legally innocent until proven guilty in court.
