Social Services report leads to child neglect charges against Wausau woman

By Shereen Siewert

WAUSAU — Police removed two children from a Wausau home after Social Services tip led to the discovery of drug paraphernalia including “many needles” scattered within reach of a 7-year-old child and her infant sister.

A Wausau Police officer responded to the home Monday morning in the 600 block of Jefferson Street after a tip that the father of one of the children residing in the home, Cody Ferguson, was using heroin. When the officer arrived, he saw drug-related items in plain view, and Ferguson ran from the home, according to the police report.

According to the criminal complaint:

After obtaining a search warrant, additional officers entered the home and were met by a 7-year-old girl who hugged them and asked them if they were there to “get all the needles.” The girl then led police to a bedroom closet where many needles — some new, some used and open — were scattered on the floor. Many additional needles were found throughout the apartment, along with cookers, tie-offs, and baggies with possible residue, many of which were in reach of the child.

Police say shelves and drawers in a bathroom were “full” of clean and dirty needles.

In addition to the 7-year-old girl, who was sleeping in a bedroom with no bed and few articles of clothing, police found the girl’s mother in the kitchen with a 5-month-old infant wrapped in a blanket. The infant was not wearing any clothing, and no baby clothes were found inside the home. An officer brought clothing from the police department to dress the child. There was also no crib inside the home.

Police arrested the mother of the two children, Chantele M. O’Brien, who now faces two counts each of child neglect and causing mental harm to a child.

O’Brien appeared Wednesday in Marathon County Circuit Court and was released Wednesday afternoon on a $2,500 signature bond. A judge ordered her to have no contact with the two children.

No charges have yet been filed against Ferguson.

A preliminary hearing for O’Brien is set for April 2.