Mother Encouraged Teens to Sell Drugs, Didn't Treat 3-Year-Old For Lice, Police Say

An O’Fallon mother encouraged her 16- and 15-year-old children to sell illegal drugs, police said.

Carrie Lynn Ryan, 36, of the first block of Hickory Lane in O’Fallon, was charged Wednesday with first-degree endangering a child and two counts of second-degree endangering a child.

Police reported that witnesses and text messages from Ryan to her son confirmed that she encouraged the two teens to sell drugs.

St. Charles County prosecutors also said Ryan did not seek treatment for her 3-year-old son, who has had head lice for more than a month. Neighbors reported they often see the 3-year-old running through the neighborhood unsupervised on a daily basis.

Police said they received reports that Ryan repeatedly is so intoxicated that the two older children must care for her 3-year-old. Police said Ryan admitted to being an alcoholic.

Ryan’s home on Hickory Lane also is filthy, reeking of "cat feces and disgusting body odor,” police said. In a text message, Ryan said her home has had bedbugs, fleas and lice at least since July 29, police reported.

Ryan is being held in St. Charles County jail. Bail was set at $10,000, cash only. She is prohibited from contacting her children and from purchasing or drinking alcohol.

Ryan also pleaded guilty in 2010 to eight counts of endangering a child and one count of allowing or failing to stop an underage person from drinking alcohol. O’Fallon Police said she provided vodka and run to 12- and 13-year-olds at a residence in the 100 block of Autumn Chase in O’Fallon. Police said children were openly drinking at the home.

Ryan completed six months of probation after her 2010 guilty plea.