An excited kindergarten student in rural Missouri brought in a few special things he found at home for class show-and-tell: his mom's baggies of crystal meth and crack pipe.
But the boy, age 5, was prevented from sharing his "treasures" with classmates by an alert teacher, Reuters reports.
A teacher saw the crack pipe and baggies of drugs, and police were called before the student had a chance to participate in show-and-tell.
The elementary school is located in rural Sweet Springs, Missouri, a town of 1,500 residents located about 66 miles east of Kansas City on the Blackwater River, Reuters says.
"That was a first for show-and-tell in this town," Police Chief Richard Downing told Reuters.
The boy's mother, Michelle Cheatham, 32, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment. She is currently out on bail, and the boy is being cared for by relatives, KCTV-5 reports.
Police said the drugs were worth about $3,700, the Associated Press reports.
"He was very excited when he got to school," Superintendent Donna Wright told the news agency. "But I don't think he knew what he had."
‘When I called the prosecutor about it, they said, "You're kidding me, aren't you?"' the rural town's police chief told the Daily Mail.
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?