GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Brianna Brenea Clark, 35, has been charged with child abuse after authorities said her six-year-old child tested positive for cocaine. Clark was arrested November 3 after deputies reportedly found cocaine within the child’s reach.
At approximately 10:30 p.m. on November 2, an Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a reported disturbance at the Motel 6 at 7413 West Newberry Road. The 911 caller was heard screaming that she could not breathe, and a cellphone location placed the call near the motel’s southeast side.
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The deputy knocked on the motel room door, and Clark reportedly acknowledged making the 911 call but said nothing had occurred. Deputies said they then found drugs and drug paraphernalia beside the bed, within arm’s reach of Clark’s six-year-old child.
Clark reportedly said without prompting that she would accept responsibility for any illegal items in the room. According to the deputy, cocaine was stored in a “colorful kid-friendly” Altoids mint tin inside an open cubby next to the bed, where the child could have easily reached it.
Because of the drugs discovered in the motel room, the Department of Children and Families was notified. Personnel from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office took temporary custody of the child.
Clark was initially charged with child neglect without serious bodily harm, two counts of possessing a controlled substance and resisting an officer without violence.
An ASO detective later joined the investigation after the child tested positive for cocaine. The detective said the child told investigators during a forensic interview about marijuana use in his presence and accurately described marijuana, along with the processes of “rolling” and “smoking” it. Test results reportedly indicated that the child had “recently” ingested cocaine.
The detective said Clark, as the child’s primary caregiver, was responsible for providing a safe and healthy environment. At some point, the child was exposed to and ingested cocaine. Although the child did not appear to be injured, authorities said he underwent extensive medical testing and a forensic examination because of Clark’s “willful actions to consume illegal and dangerous narcotics while in close proximity to [the victim] and leave them in a common area where [the victim] had unrestricted access to the narcotics.”
Clark now faces a charge of child abuse without great bodily harm. She has three nonviolent felony convictions and four nonviolent misdemeanor convictions, and authorities said this is her second probation violation. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $85,000 on the original charges and ordered Clark held without bail until the probation violation is resolved. Judge Meshon Rawls imposed an additional $50,000 bail on the new charge.