2 people in Bell County, Ky. facing child abuse charges

BELL COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — A “prowler complaint” turned into two arrests Saturday afternoon for child abuse charges, according to the Bell County, Kentucky Sheriff’s Department.

According to a news release from the department, a K-9 deputy was dispatched to a Mary Street home for the prowler call. Officers said they came in contact with Rebecca Erin Williams, 27, of Pineville, who said “100 people” were standing in her backyard attempting to break into her house that crawled through a hole in her fence, even though nobody was there.

According to the news release, the deputy determined Williams was intoxicated.

“This caused her to hallucinate creating a dangerous environment for her children inside the residence with another individual identified as 39-year-old Christopher Thomas Allen also of Pineville displaying the same behavior,” the release stated.

BCSD said Williams admitted she had taken suboxone and methamphetamine before the deputy’s arrival. Allen reportedly said he had taken Suboxone and Clonazepam, according to authorities.

BCSD also said children in the home were in “close proximity to a hatchet, chemicals and other objects that could cause serious injury or death,” and that “neither Williams nor Allen was in the appropriate state of mind to effectively care for the children.”

Both were arrested and booked into the Bell County Detention Center, charged with second-degree criminal abuse for a child 12 or under. Williams was also charged with public intoxication with a controlled substance.

Social services were also called to take custody of the children.