Parents face additional charges of child abuse

A 1-year-old and a 2½-year-old living in the Sunny View home recently busted as a methamphetamine lab both tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The toddlers’ parents, Jessica Nicole Hardin, 22, and Jason Carroll Barnes, 33, both of 3201 Hwy. 9 North, Columbus were charged last Thursday, Sept. 1 with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, one count for each child. Those charges were in addition to others they already face with regard to the meth lab bust.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) uncovered on Aug. 24 what is being called the largest meth lab in Polk County’s history at the residence, located in the Sunny View Community.

The children were found in the home at the time of the bust and are currently in the custody of the Polk County Department of Social Services.

Hardin and Barnes were each charged initially with manufacturing methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine precursor, both felonies.

The additional charges were filed last week after the 1-year-old and 2½-year-old were tested for drugs, according to Polk County Sheriff Donald Hill. Hill said the misdemeanor child abuse charge is the most severe allowable by state law.

Items found in the home during the bust included pseudoephedrine, sulfuric acid, acetone and sodium hydroxide as well as various containers commonly used in manufacturing methamphetamine, according to sheriff officers.

A contracted hazardous material team cleaned up the chemicals found in the home.

This was the first meth lab discovered in Polk County in about four years. The sheriff’s office’s first meth lab bust occurred in 2002, with another discovered in 2003 and two in 2004. The last meth lab in Polk County was discovered on Edgerton Road in November 2007.

Barnes and Hardin were each given an additional $5,000 bond on the child abuse charges.