LAFOLLETTE, TN. (WLAF)- Whitney O’Dell is facing felony charges after she allegedly forced children in her care to drink alcohol. Last week, the Campbell County Grand Jury indicted her on three counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect as well as aggravated assault by domestic violence.

The 31-year-old mother was arrested earlier this year after LaFollette Police were called to her Claiborne Road home. Police had been called after the children called their grandparents “crying and screaming for help,” the report said.

When the grandparents arrived, they found three juveniles outside the home. While they were all “screaming in pain,” they also appeared intoxicated to the point of not being able to hold their heads up, the report said. Police allegedly found O’Dell in a bathroom, in what appeared to be an attempt to hide from police, according to the report. She allegedly smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. Her excuse for hiding was “she was scared,” the report said.

O’Dell had been asleep all day only to wake up and find the three juveniles drunk, she reportedly told police. A walk through of the home revealed empty alcohol bottles of at least three varieties. The juveniles had been forced by O’Dell to consume the alcohol with her threatening violence at one point, the LPD report stated.

Along with allegedly supplying alcohol to minors, O’Dell is further accused of choking one of the minors. When emergency medical personnel evaluated the juveniles, they also reported having smoked a vape that day..

O’Dell contended the juveniles had made up the story, that she hadn’t supplied them with alcohol. Two of the children involved in the incident were O’Dell’s children, while the third was a friend of the family.

After O’Dell was arrested, she was given Narcan at the jail when she showed signs of a narcotics overdose.

Following her arrest, she was released without a bail being posted. Her indictment will move her case into criminal court.

Aggravated child abuse and neglect is a class B felony that carries an eight to 12 year sentence.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 4/13/2023- 6AM)

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