Oklahoma City police responding to complaints of a man "acting crazy" discovered a 4-year-old boy wandering around an apartment complex shortly after midnight in 42 degree weather and a toddler left unattended in an apartment.
Police say that Jerry Lewis Bynes, 49, alternately listed as Jerry Louis Bynes, was supposed to be watching the children, but when they arrived, he appeared to by high on PCP. Officers described him as smelling of ether, not responding to questions, and looking around "as though he was seeing things that weren't there."
PCP, or phencyclidine, is a potent hallucinogen and dissociative anesthetic which is commonly dissolved in ether. Drugfree.org describes the effects of PCP as follows:
- distinct changes in body awareness, similar to those associated with alcohol intoxication
- shallow breathing
- flushing
- profuse sweating
- generalized numbness of the extremities
- poor muscular coordination and loss of balance
- nausea and vomiting
- blurred vision
- hallucinations
- seizures
- coma
- violence
- suicidal tendencies
While police were responding to the apparently intoxicated man and the unattended children, the children's mother returned home. She told police that she was letting Bynes, who had just been released from prison in August, stay with her until he got "back on his feet." She said he agreed to watch the children while she went to dinner and the movies with her sister.
Because Bynes was responsible for the welfare of the children in their mother's absence, and because he allegedly got high on PCP instead of watching the kids, he was arrested on a complaint of child endangerment and booked into the Oklahoma County Jail on $20,000 bond.
Oklahoma law defines child endangerment as follows according to 21 O.S. 852.1:
A person who is the parent, guardian, or person having custody or control over a child as defined in Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes, commits child endangerment when the person:
- Knowingly permits physical or sexual abuse of a child;
- Knowingly permits a child to be present at a location where a controlled dangerous substance is being manufactured or attempted to be manufactured as defined in Section 2-101 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
- Knowingly permits a child to be present in a vehicle when the person knows or should have known that the operator of the vehicle is impaired by or is under the influence of alcohol or another intoxicating substance; or
- Is the driver, operator, or person in physical control of a vehicle in violation of Section 11-902 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes while transporting or having in the vehicle such child or children.
Penalties for child endangerment under this statute include a maximum of 4 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Although the mother has not been criminally charged, she may have cause to be concerned after leaving a convicted felon with a history of drug abuse, violence, and sexual assault to watch her children.
Bynes's criminal record includes the following convictions, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Offender Lookup:
- 2nd degree burglary (1983) - probation
- Attempted first degree burglary (1983) - probation
- Larceny of merchandise from a retailer (1988) - 10 years probation
- Lewd Acts with a Minor Under 16 (1988) - 7 years in prison
- Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance (PCP) (2011) - 5 years in prison
- Assault and battery of a police officer (2011) - 5 years in prison
- Failure to register as a sex offender (2005) - 5 year suspended sentence
While the children's mother may not have known about Bynes's past, under Oklahoma law, she could be held criminally liable for enabling child neglect if she knew or should have reasonably known that placing her children in Bynes's care left them at risk of harm. In 21 O.S. 843.5, enabling child neglect and its associated penalties are described as follows:
Any parent or other person who shall willfully or maliciously engage in enabling child neglect shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections not exceeding life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one (1) year, or by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment. As used in this subsection, "enabling child neglect" means the causing, procuring or permitting of a willful or malicious act of child neglect, as defined by paragraph 46 of Section 1-1-105 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes, of a child under eighteen (18) years of age by another. As used in this subsection, "permit" means to authorize or allow for the care of a child by an individual when the person authorizing or allowing such care knows or reasonably should know that the child will be placed at risk of neglect as proscribed by this subsection.
Fortunately, in this case, police were notified before the children endured any significant harm or required medical attention.
