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Sacramento Man Arrested After 6-Year-Old Child Brings Meth To School

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A 6-year-old boy brought a baggie of methamphetamine to class and some of it spilled out of the child's pocket during reading time at a Sacramento elementary school.

The child's father, Gonzalo Meza, 25, was booked into the Sacramento County Jail on Wednesday and charged with possession of a controlled substance for sale and child endangerment. He's being held on $50,000 bail.

Gonzalo Meza
Gonzalo Meza

"The basis for the possession for sale charge is the fact that this was too much for personal use," Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Ramos told CBS13 on Friday. "It's clear to us that the amount he had was intended to be portioned out for sale."

According to Ramos, another child at Ethel Baker Elementary, which is off Fruitridge Road in south Sacramento, picked up the some of the crystal meth after it fell on the carpet while the children were reading and gave it to their teacher.

"Very scary, considering what could have happened if a kid would have been curious and ingested some," Ramos said.

The school principal told CBS13 that parents of children in the class have been notified of the incident. She said she'd never experienced anything like it in her eight years in education.

"The instructor immediately brought it our attention and from there, we handed it over to the sheriff's department," Principal Olga Arellano.

A relative at Meza's home denied the drugs belonged to Meza, saying the child "probably found it on the outside. It's a tough environment."

"He's a good dad, man," he told CBS13's Derek Shore. "He loves his kid."

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