Lake City, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – A Lake City man is being held on a $750,000 cash/surety bond after a judge found probable cause to charge him with exposing his grandchild to meth.

District Judge David Boling found probable cause on April 1 to charge Hershel Allen Walker, 52, with exposing a child to a chemical substance or meth, a class C felony. The charge stems from a March 9 incident in which Walker was watching the child at his home.

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According to the probable cause affidavit, Walker had been texting his daughter throughout the day, claiming everything was going well. However, when a relative arrived to pick up the grandchild and took him to her home, she immediately recognized something was wrong.

The relative reported that the child’s face was flushed, his pupils were dilated, and his arms were stretched and locked. He was unable to make eye contact and was unresponsive to his own name. It was also discovered that the child had severe burns on his hands, which later developed into ruptured blisters.

The grandchild was transported to a Little Rock hospital, where he tested positive for meth and amphetamine. He was treated and discharged on March 11.

Walker’s legal troubles compounded on March 31 when deputies arrived at his home to serve a felony bench warrant. According to a second affidavit, officers gained consent to search the home and found a silver container in Walker’s bedroom holding six hydrocodone pills. Walker allegedly admitted he did not have a prescription and had purchased the pills illegally on the street.

Following the search, Boling found probable cause to add two class D felony charges to Walker’s case: Possession of a Schedule I or II substance (less than two grams) and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Walker is currently being held at the Craighead County Detention Center. In addition to setting the $750,000 cash or surety bond, Boling ordered Walker to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Walker is scheduled to appear in court for both cases on July 31. If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 26 years in prison and fines totaling $30,000.

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