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Narcotics detectives in the Birmingham suburb of Irondale
pulled over the car driven by 23-year-old Kenneth Bell on Dec. 8
on suspicion he was moving drugs, said Irondale Police spokesman
Detective Michael Mangina.
A drug-sniffing dog detected the presence of narcotics in the
car, and police ordered Bell, his two daughters and their mother
out of the vehicle.
Bell's elder daughter then told detectives that "Daddy put
something in sister's diaper," Mangina said.
Police had the girls' mother undress the toddler, at which point
they saw a bulge in her diaper caused by a bag of heroin, with
an estimated street value of $2,500, Mangina said.
Bell was arrested on charges of chemical endangerment of a child
and drug trafficking, Mangina said. He was later freed after
posting $25,000 bail.
"This is somebody that shouldn't even have fathered children,"
Mangina said. "He needs to own up to his own mistakes, and
certainly not involve his children, who are babies, basically."
The children were released to their mother, who was not
arrested, and state child welfare officials are investigating
the case, Mangina said.
Prosecutors and child welfare officials did not immediately
respond to messages seeking comment, and Bell's attorney could
not immediately be reached.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans; Editing by
Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)
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