Pubdate: Thu, 07 Apr 2005
Source: Bennington Banner (VT)
Copyright: 2005 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and NENI Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.benningtonbanner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2424
Author: Jessica York, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

POLICE: TEEN TURNS IN PARENTS FOR GROWING POT

CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. -- Two Jackson residents were caught growing 19 small
marijuana plants in their bedroom closet Monday after their daughter,
a Cambridge Central School student, turned them in, said police.

The 15-year-old girl, one of the couple's three children, went to
school officials on Monday. Officials then called the village police
department, who subsequently turned it over to state police
investigators.

New York State Police Investigator Richard Painter said the teenager
was concerned for her two younger siblings' welfare, causing her to
report her parents.

Tammy Reynolds, 34, is said to have hit and pushed her oldest daughter
into a bedroom wall during an argument last week in their State Route
22 home, leaving a hole in the wall, the daughter told police.

Both Reynolds and her husband, Harry J. Reynolds, 35, were arrested by
state police officers on a number of charges Monday, including the
combined charges of unlawfully growing cannabis, two counts of
harassment and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

The reckless endangerment charges are the most serious, police said,
and carry a maximum jail time of one year per charge. The marijuana
plants were seized and will be destroyed at the conclusion of the
case, said Painter.

The other charges stem from information the teenager gave police about
an incident where Harry Reynolds held her head under dirty sink water
in the kitchen in October, Painter said. Also, the daughter said her
parents smoked marijuana in the house when the children were present,
police said.

Child Protective Services were notified by police, and made
arrangements to have the children stay elsewhere Monday night, said
Painter. They will be involved in determining the future of the
Reynoldses' children, Painter said.

Tammy and Harry Reynolds were arraigned in Jackson town court and
released on their recognizance, to return to court at a later date,
police said. A non-violent order of protection was placed on the
parents, meaning that the two could not have abusive contact with
their children, but not necessarily precluding all contact with them,
Painter said.
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