The Ohio grandmother who overdosed on heroin in an SUV in front of her 4-year-old grandson has lost custody of him.
A judge placed the boy with his great-aunt and great-uncle, Lori and Terry Lane, in South Carolina, according to the NY Post.
The boy was in the back seat of an SUV where his grandmother, Rhonda Pasek, 50, and a friend James Lee Acord, 47, had overdosed on heroin.
A police officer pulled the SUV over after observing the vehicle driving erratically on Sept. 7.
Pasek and Acord were arrested on charges of child endangerment, DUI, and other traffic violations.
East Liverpool, Ohio police shared shocking photos of the unconscious couple on Facebook.com.
The Ohio city’s police department said it was going for “shock” value to educate the public about the dangers of heroin.
Pasek had been granted custody of the boy only six weeks before she OD’d.
Her family is outraged over the invasion of privacy and public humility that Pasek has endured since the photos went viral.
“The city of East Liverpool humiliated my family and humiliated that little boy,” Pasek’s sister told NBC News.
“They could have blurred his face and they didn’t. And now they’re taking him away from my sister. I’m not condoning what Rhonda done, but what they did to her and what they’re doing to her grandson is too much,” she said.
Public safety chief Brian Allen defended his department’s decision not to blur the child’s face in the photos.
“As a public official I can’t blur public records and this photo is a public record,” he said.
Media outlets and blogs blurred out the child’s face to protect his innocence.
Pasek’s sister, who lives in Delaware, told NBC News the boy’s parents (her son and his girlfriend) “couldn’t manage” taking care of their children.
She said she has custody of the boy’s 3-year-old brother.
“It’s the old story,” she said. “No education. No jobs. My sister has fought for two years straight to get this child.”
