Mother 'hooked' 14 yr old daughter on Heroin

Brandi Baumgardner, 38 from Pennsylvania US, allegedly hooked her 14-year-old daughter on drugs, including heroin, and injected her with them hundreds of times when the teen was too sick to do it herself.

Investigators say Baumgardner, began smoking marijuana with her daughter when she was just 12-years-old.

The girl, who is not being named to protect her identity, told authorities she began using harder drugs later, beginning her heroin habit at 14.

Robert Thomas Hannick, 22, of Beaver Springs, was also arrested after he allegedly provided the girl with drugs in exchange for sex.

It is not clear what the relationship is between Hannick, the girl and her mother.

The allegations were revealed as the girl underwent counselling at Clear Vision, a residential treatment center for young women in Montgomery last August.

She alleged that Hannick would also inject her with drugs.

She told investigators that, in exchange for sex, he gave her the prescription drug, suboxone, which is for people dependent on 'opioid' substances, such as heroin and morphine.

Questioned about these allegations in January, Hannick reportedly told the police 'I know she was 14, that’s how I feel.'

He denied giving the girl drugs. All the allegations took place in one apartment in Spring Township in Beaver Springs, a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The 38-year-old mother-of two would take her daughter to hospital making her fake illnesses so they would be given prescription drugs, the girl said.

The 14-year-old also said she shared Fentanyl patches with her mother. Fentanyl, a prescription pain killer, can be 100 times stronger than heroin sold on the street and is highly addictive.  

Baumgardner was charged with endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors.

Hannick was charged with statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and corruption of minors.

Staff at Clear Vision treatment center are required by law to report sexual abuse, the center’s director, Sue Alberti, told The Daily Item.

While abuse allegations are often already known when women arrive for treatment sometimes they come out for the first time in counselling, as was the case here.

'It’s the first time they have felt safe to talk,' Alberti explained. The girl is still undergoing treatment at the residential center.

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