NORMAN, Oklahoma (KFOR) – A 19-year-old mother is now behind bars in Cleveland County for child neglect.
According to court documents, Victoria Bolton admitted her 2-month-old son to the Norman Regional Healthplex on Tuesday evening.
“My heart fell. I didn’t know what to think. Anger, sad. I went up there and missed it,” said Bolton’s father Timothy Searl.
Searl and his wife, Rhetta, showed up at the hospital to find their nephew in the ICU hooked up to IV fluids and “all kinds of tubes.”
Searl said the baby was on life support, weighed seven pounds two ounces.
The Bolton child was being treated for dehydration and low body mass when medical personnel called the situation to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO).
As Searl and his wife took off to retrieve clothes for Bolton, she was questioned by detectives about the child’s health.
Bolton told investigators his son fell ill on Sunday.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) conducted a welfare check on Bolton and her baby that day, according to an affidavit.
Court records show DHS told Bolton the child needed to be taken to hospital immediately.
“[Bolton] she stated that she noticed the child was vomiting and would not retain food when she fed him a full bottle,” the affidavit reads. “She stated that she saw nothing medically wrong with the young man and that is why he did not seek medical assistance for the minor.”
Bolton also admitted to investigators that she smoked methamphetamine when she was five months pregnant with her child.
Bolton said his roommates also smoked meth around his son and he believes one of them slipped the drug into his bottle.
Despite these claims, records show Bolton still allowed her flatmates to care for the baby.
Court records also detail that Bolton’s son was taken to hospital on January 27 and diagnosed as stunted.
“It’s painful to hear that. It’s kind of hard to put into words on that,” Searl said.[Bolton] he has a big heart. He always tries to help everyone. She tried to take care of everyone.
Searl and his wife told KFOR they are not guaranteeing their daughter’s innocence, but rather that her three housemates will also be held responsible.
“There are more aspects to the case than they are trying to talk about. There’s a bigger picture of everything that was going on in that house. I just want to know what was really going on. What if [Bolton’s roommates] they weren’t, if they weren’t actually involved, then there’s no way with so many people living in the house, can’t anybody say that at least they didn’t know about it,” Searl said.
Rhetta said Bolton lived with two men and a woman who was a family friend.
Rhetta told KFOR that the roommate cut ties with her and also made Bolton cut ties with her family, which has resulted in zero communication between them and Bolton over the past month.
Rhetta also claimed that the female roommate was very controlling of Bolton and “didn’t allow her to be a mother”.
Searl and Rhetta and now wonder why that roommate along with the other two hasn’t been arrested yet.
The CCSO said they are continuing to look into every aspect of the case but have had no new details to provide as of Friday morning.
Bolton’s parents are also questioning the DHS worker who conducted a welfare check on their daughter and grandson.
Bolton is being held at the Cleveland County Detention Center on $100,000 bond.
Searl said the baby is still in the hospital but is slowly gaining weight and his health is improving.
He and Rhetta hope to keep the baby in their family.
“We will not just fall [Bolton] from the face of the earth, but our primary concern is our grandson,” Searl explained.
Rhetta also asks those who hear Bolton’s story not to “villianize” it.
“Don’t judge her just on the case, because you don’t know all aspects of the case. Keep my nephew in your prayers. She’s not the only one who’s wrong here. She too has to pay for her part in this. I’m not saying no, but she’s not solely responsible. And she’s not a villain. She is a first time mother she is a young mother. She doesn’t know how to be a mom yet,” Rhetta said.
The family is now waiting to hear from Norman Regional about whether or not they will have a supervised visit with their nephew.