SAN ANTONIO – Update: A second arrest has been made in connection with a viral video that shows a 3-year-old boy smoking marijuana that surfaced earlier this week.
Thomas Esquivel, 19, the boyfriend of Larissa Contreras, was also arrested Thursday by Bexar County deputies. He’s charged with child endangerment, a state jail felony.
Both Contreras and Esquival are accused of encouraging the 3-year-old boy to smoke marijuana and filming the incident and sharing the video on social media.
Other arrests are expected to be made in the case very soon, according to Sheriff Javier Salazar.
We’ll bring more updates as they become available.
Original:
An 18-year-old woman is charged with child endangerment after Bexar County deputies said she encouraged her 3-year-old brother to smoke marijuana and posted a video of it on Facebook earlier this week.
Larissa Contreras is charged in the incident and was escorted to the Bexar County Jail during a perp walk Thursday afternoon.
According to Sheriff Javier Salazar, deputies were first alerted Monday of the video on social media. The video appears to show a toddler with a brown marijuana cigarette inside of a vehicle. You can hear adults telling the toddler to smoke the cigarette in the video and the toddler coughs after taking a puff.
Salazar said Contreras was entrusted by her parents to monitor her little brother prior to the incident. According to the BCSO, the incident happened inside of a vehicle while they were at a family gathering.
Salazar said deputies were able to identify Contreras in the video on social media.
As Contreras was being interviewed by law enforcement, Sheriff Salazar said she livestreamed some of the discussion and part of her confession on Facebook. Deputies are still working to obtain that footage as the investigation continues.
There are several other persons of interest that deputies are looking for that may have been involved in the incident as well.
The parents of the toddler are not facing any charges and the toddler is safe and sound at home, according to the BCSO.
The toddler will be drug tested as a precaution, to make sure the marijuana he inhaled wasn’t laced with any other drugs, Sheriff Salazar said.
CPS is also involved in the case, and the BCSO is asking anyone that may have any more information on the incident to contact them at (210) 335-6000.
This is a developing story and we’ll bring more details as they become available.