New and more serious charges have been filed against a Mountain Home couple after young children living in their home tested positive for drugs in their system.
Twenty-nine-year-old Samantha Simpson and 27-year-old Steven Gauger already faced a number of drug related offenses, as well as four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.
They are now accused of introducing a controlled substance into the body of another, a Class Y felony — the most serious classification of crimes in Arkansas. According to the amended criminal information, police were informed of the results of drug tests done on all four children — ranging from 2-to-8-years-old. The tests indicated all four were positive for marijuana and three for methamphetamine.
Simpson has entered a not guilty plea to all of the charges against her. Gauger has not been arrested on the amended charges as yet. He was released from the Baxter County jail on Feb. 298th, after posting bond.
On Monday, Gauger’s father filed a missing person report with the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, saying he had allowed his son to borrow a vehicle on March 15th, he had not returned it and he was concerned for his welfare.
On Tuesday, Gauger’s father filed a second report with BCSO for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He said his truck’s tailgate had an advertisement on it depicting a large picture of a fish and the text for his business, Howard Cove Fishing Guide.
Fourteenth Judicial Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge says officers and investigators from the Mountain Home Police Department have done an outstanding job in pulling the case together. Ethredge says everyone involved had the young children in mind as they worked the case.
Simpson and Gauger were arrested initially after Mountain Home Police officers were sent to a residence to check on the well-being of the children and found conditions so bad the children were removed from the home and placed in the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Simpson and Gauger have been ordered not to have contact with the children except through DHS.
During earlier court sessions, bonds for Simpson and Gauger were lowered from $50,000 to $10,000. In asking for a bond reduction, Simpson told the court she wanted to get out of jail, get a job, a place to live and “start working on getting my kids back.”
During a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday, Judge Gordon Webb reset Simpson’s bond at $20,000 and imposed a number of conditions.
Simpson violated the conditions set when her bond was lowered to $10,000 by testing positive for drug use. She was required to be tested on Monday and Friday of each week. Judge Webb told Simpson, “You apparently didn’t get the message. Your bond was lowered conditioned on you not using drugs, period.” The judge warned Simpson, “If you bond out again and do drugs again, it will mean going back to jail again.”
Simpson was rearrested on Monday initially on a contempt of court charge with a no bond hold, according to the Baxter County Detention Center log.
The incident began when police went to the home to conduct a welfare check on the four children. The officers were unsuccessful in contacting the couple Feb. 20th and tried three times the next day. On the third attempt, Simpson let officers into the house.
Simpson told police Gauger had barricaded the front door and refused to answer when officers made previous attempts to enter the home. She said she had let police in because Gauger was not at home, having taken his two children to the doctor. Two children were in the residence at the time.
Officers reported smelling the odor of marijuana as soon as they entered the home. As they were being taken to a bedroom where the two children still at home were, they saw numerous items of drug paraphernalia used for the ingestion of marijuana and methamphetamine in plain sight.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the interior of the home was in disarray with clothing and trash strewn about, a pile of dirty dishes in the sink and old food on the counters and floor.
The officers found the two children lying in separate beds. They appeared to be ill.
Officers said an open purse allegedly belonging to Simpson was in the children’s bedroom, and a glass container holding a quantity of marijuana could be seen in the purse.
After seeing the condition of the home and the children, officers contacted the Department of Human Services and the criminal investigation division of the Mountain Home Police Department. A search warrant was obtained for the property and more drugs, including 11 bags of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia were found.
According to the probable cause affidavit, glass smoking pipes used to ingest drugs were located in spots accessible to the young children living in the home.
When people interviewed Gauger, he admitted to knowing about marijuana in the house and said he was also aware of Simpson’s alleged addiction to methamphetamine.
Gauger and Simpson also face charges of maintaining a drug premises within 1,000 feet of a Mountain Home school and church.
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