15-month-old girl tests positive for meth at Tri-State hospital, police say

WARNING: Videos shared by the toddler’s father are contained in the video version of this story embedded above. They could be considered disturbing to some people.

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MT. ORAB, Ohio (FOX19) - A Brown County toddler is recovering at home after police say she was hospitalized for ingesting drugs.

According to her father, Ruthie Mae is expected to make a full recovery over the next couple weeks.

A police report from the Mt. Orab Police Department says the 15-month-old girl had been with her mother’s friend while she was at work the day the toddler tested positive for meth and THC.

“I’m still shocked,” Cory Cash, Ruthie’s father, told FOX19 NOW on Monday. “It’s something she should have never had to go through.”

Cash says he noticed something wrong with Ruthie Mae when he went to pick her up from her mother’s house Thursday.

According to the police report, Cash took her to Mercy Health Mt. Orab, where she tested positive for the drugs.

"I mean it really tore me up. I felt as any father would feel. I was in a rage. I wanted answers. I wanted to know why, how, who," said Cash.

The police report says Cory told authorities Ruthie was sticking her head back and extending her arms out at things that were not there, which could indicate hallucinations or overdosing.

"I held that baby for 17 hours straight while she was trying to get meth out of her system, while she was struggling to live," said Cash.

The report says Ruthie was transported to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where Cash says was kept overnight.

He says she got to go home Friday afternoon.

“Thank God for the Children’s Hospital for counteracting the drugs and making it where she’s not brain dead or in cardiac arrest," he said.

According to Cash, Ruthie is better but still recovering. He adds he hopes this serves as a wake-up call to people using drugs around children.

“If people are out there seeing this and using, man, keep this stuff away from your kids,” said Cash. “I shared those videos for a reason. People need to see what it does to children.”

In the videos Cash shared with FOX19 NOW, you can see the toddler shaking.

Right now, no one has been charged in the incident, but Mt. Orab authorities say it is an ongoing investigation.

FOX19 NOW reached out to Ruthie’s mother. She said: “This is a horrific horrific accident and we don’t know how it happened.”

Police say the mother and her friend are cooperating with the investigation.

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