Butte County parents arrested on alleged child endangerment

Source: Yahoo

May 9 -- The Butte County Sheriff's Office arrested two Bangor residents on Tuesday under suspicion of child endangerment after their child was found near an illegal marijuana cultivation, officials said.

At approximately 10:51 p.m. on Monday, Butte County dispatch received a call from a woman that her child, 3, was missing from a residence located on a 51-acre parcel on the 7000 block of Laporte Road in Bangor. Deputies and detectives identified the child's parents as Mayra Barajas, 32, and Jose Valencia Contreras, 35.

Butte County law enforcement immediately began a search for the missing child with assistance from the Yuba County Sheriff's Office, officials said. Butte County Sheriff's deputies also deployed a tracking K-9.

Investigators determined that the child had been missing since around 7:30 p.m. on Monday and reportedly located evidence that Barajas and Valencia Contreras were illegally growing marijuana on the property. Investigators also found that the child "frequented marijuana grow sites with her parents," the Butte County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies reportedly located the child at approximately 3:21 a.m. on Tuesday after the tracking K-9 led law enforcement to an illegal marijuana grow. The young girl was found underneath a tarp approximately two feet away from hundreds of marijuana plants, according to officials.

The child was cold and required immediate medical attention, officials said. She was transported to a local hospital where she was treated and later released to Butte County Children's Services.

Barajas and Valencia Contreras were arrested for felony child endangerment and booked into the Butte County Jail. Deputies searched the residence again on Tuesday afternoon and reportedly located 6,674.55 pounds of processed marijuana, 5,257 marijuana plants and four firearms.