Son accused of stealing drugs from home of jailed mother

CARTHAGE — While a village woman was jailed Friday afternoon in Watertown on 31 charges, her son allegedly entered her residence and stole prescription medication, Carthage police said.

Brenda E. Roth, 43, of 777 West End Ave., was arrested late Friday morning on 24 counts of unlawfully dealing with a child and seven counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Police charged her in connection with a gathering of young people in her home the night of Oct. 27, when she allegedly provided beer and marijuana to the visitors and allowed them to use the drugs.

Included in the 31 counts are allegations that she allowed a child to sell prescription drugs and permitted one of her children to miss more than 35 days of school, police said.

The probation department and the child protective services unit of the Jefferson County Department of Social Services were involved in the school attendance investigation, police said.

Mrs. Roth was arraigned before Champion Town Justice Dennis G. Quinn, who set bail at $1,000. She was held in the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building for three hours Friday, until about 5:20 p.m., when her bail was posted.

Village police allege that sometime between 4 and 5 p.m. Friday, her son, Jeffery D. Carr, 18, of 525 Francis St., entered her residence and stole an unspecified number of Percocet pills from a prescription container. He was charged with petit larceny Sunday and was sent to jail by Village Justice S. Lucille Shettleton, with bail set at $2,500.

With his arrest Sunday, Mr. Carr is now facing 18 charges in four separate investigations dating back to Dec. 12. Among those charges are multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a child and unlawfully dealing with a child, all unrelated to the Oct. 27 party.