A Florida man has been sentenced to 14 months in prison after being found to be putting laxatives in his stepson’s daily medication.
Craig Alan Ripple, 54, was convicted of felony child abuse surrounding the removal of the child’s medication as well as other extremely odd behaviours to mess with the family, according to Out Kick.
The sentencing comes three years after Ripple’s former partner and the child’s mother had reported that the 54-year-old had been tampering with her 14-year-old son’s prescribed drugs.
Flagler Live reports that the child was on lithium to treat his mood and behavioural disorder, however, for almost a year between 2018 and 2019 he had complained of persistent diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
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He even had to undergo uncomfortable procedures such as colonoscopies and endoscopies in an attempt to diagnose the problem - poor lad.
After the child’s mother discovered laxatives mingled into the original tables, she decided to set up security cameras across the house, detecting her then-partner of suspicious behaviour.
Upon discovering Ripple’s sick shenanigans, she divorced him and met with investigators.
As if the drug-tampering ordeal wasn’t enough of a low-life move, it turned out that Ripple had been responsible for a number of bizarre incidents just to mess with the entire family as a whole.
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According to court documents, Ripple would also take and hide the children’s clothes, homework and jewellery just to watch them and their mother search for the items.
After discovering her husband’s drug-tampering, the mother put two-and-two together and found many of the missing items in the boot of the man’s car.
On top of that, Ripple would pour liquids onto the children’s beds to make it seem like the family pet had urinated on the sheets.
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Truly messed up.
According to the documents, the man blamed ‘spite’ for his wife for feeling disrespected for being accused of the weird behaviours - despite actually committing the odd behaviours he was being accused of.
The documents concluded that Ripple ‘had been engaging in malicious acts with no real purpose other than to cause emotional distress' to the family.
A Flagler County judge sentenced him to 14 months behind bars followed by three years of probation.
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Ripple was also ordered to take parenting classes and to have no contact with the child.
Hopefully one of the lessons has a section about not putting laxatives in your kid’s medication.
The kicker of all of this, Ripple takes 17 prescription drugs for diabetes, blood pressure and heart issues that help him stay alive.
Hopefully no one tampers with that medication when he serves his time in jail.
Featured Image Credit: Flagler County Sherriff. Michelle Arnold / Alamy.Topics: Crime, US News, Weird, Parenting