What happened after a man put laxatives in a Florida teen’s meds. ‘Very bizarre case’
A drug-tampering case in North Florida has come to a close after three years.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, a man was sentenced for putting laxatives into a Florida teen’s medication.
Craig Alan Ripple, first arrested in April 2020 on felony child abuse charges, was found guilty on Thursday.
The 57-year-old Bunnell resident was given 14 months in a state prison followed by 36 months of probation upon his release.
The sheriff’s office began investigating “a potential child abuse case” in August of 2019. The report alleged that Ripple had exhibiting “odd behaviors,” such as tampering with a 14-year-old son’s medicine, as well as removing items belonging to his mother and his sister.
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The mother was able to provide the Flagler sheriff’s office with the tampered medicine as well as security footage from the residence showing Ripple taking things from a child’s bedroom.
Shortly after, detectives met with the mother, who was reportedly in a domestic relationship with Ripple, and two juveniles involved.
The woman explained that while giving her son his nightly dose of medication, it appeared that the pill had been altered somehow. After dismantling the tablet, she discovered several small, round, pink tablets inside. They were later identified as over-the-counter laxatives.
She also told detectives that her son was refusing to take the meds; he said they “tasted strange” and were “making him ill.”
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Detectives met with Ripple and they say he admitted to toying with the medication and inserting the pink tablets into the teen’s capsules.
“This is a very bizarre case and it takes a sick and twisted individual to administer laxatives to a child without his or his mother’s knowledge,” Sheriff Rick Staly said, adding the child was “not significantly injured.”
The mother has since moved out of state and is no longer in contact with the suspect.
