I guess this is good news!
HOUSTON -- All of the people in a video that shows a group of young women laughing at a toddler rolling her eyes and behaving strangely have been interviewed and officials said they believe the tape was a hoax, KPRC Local 2 Investigates reported Tuesday.
The video, which runs 2 minutes and 28 seconds, shows the little girl, who appears about two years old, sitting on the floor of a van. As the young women in the car, some of whom seem to be teenagers, tease her, the toddler rolls her eyes back until only the whites are showing.
Some of the women can be heard laughing and seeming to suggest the drug Ecstasy might be responsible for the tot's behavior.
"Cookie, stop rolling, girl ...You shouldn't have popped no x," says one of the young women, as she squeezes the little girl's cheeks and taps her on her head, telling her to stop rolling her eyes.
The video, which originally appeared on YouTube and is also on the Web sites, Digg and Parents Behaving Badly, also shows an infant being handed from one person to another in the car's back seat. The video has since been removed from YouTube.
Authorities with the Harris County Sheriff's Department and the Cyber Crimes Task Force talked to all of the people involved in the video and they said it was a joke, including the girl's 21-year-old mother.
However, the 2 1/2-year-old girl will undergo medical tests for confirmation.
"At this time, there's not enough evidence to say with any kind of certainty that she was or she was not actually exposed to any kind of criminal or illicit substance," said Lt. John Martin with the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
Martin said the group was on a long road trip from South Padre Island to Houston and said it was a product of boredom.
"That this child would basically do whatever you told her to do. If you told her to roll her eyes, she would roll her eyes, and they claim that's what she was doing -- that she was responding to things that they were telling her to do," Martin said.
Child Protective Services is investigating the child's home life.
Harris County and Jackson County authorities became involved after several clues in the video seemed to show that the video had been filmed in the southeast Texas area. A map of Jackson County can be seen in the pocket of the car's front seat. An announcer from KHCB FM, a Houston Christian radio station, and an instrumental version of Jesus Loves Me can be heard in the background. The signal from the 100,000-watt radio station reaches into Jackson County.
The Jackson County sheriff is still concerned by what he saw.
"She's on the floor of the van -- no child protective seat there. Her environment is certainly in question," Sheriff A.J. Louderback said.
Investigators said even though the video recently came to light, it was shot on June 17.
All of the people in the video are from the Houston area, so local authorities will have jurisdiction.
The video, which runs 2 minutes and 28 seconds, shows the little girl, who appears about two years old, sitting on the floor of a van. As the young women in the car, some of whom seem to be teenagers, tease her, the toddler rolls her eyes back until only the whites are showing.
Some of the women can be heard laughing and seeming to suggest the drug Ecstasy might be responsible for the tot's behavior.
"Cookie, stop rolling, girl ...You shouldn't have popped no x," says one of the young women, as she squeezes the little girl's cheeks and taps her on her head, telling her to stop rolling her eyes.
The video, which originally appeared on YouTube and is also on the Web sites, Digg and Parents Behaving Badly, also shows an infant being handed from one person to another in the car's back seat. The video has since been removed from YouTube.
Authorities with the Harris County Sheriff's Department and the Cyber Crimes Task Force talked to all of the people involved in the video and they said it was a joke, including the girl's 21-year-old mother.
However, the 2 1/2-year-old girl will undergo medical tests for confirmation.
"At this time, there's not enough evidence to say with any kind of certainty that she was or she was not actually exposed to any kind of criminal or illicit substance," said Lt. John Martin with the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
Martin said the group was on a long road trip from South Padre Island to Houston and said it was a product of boredom.
"That this child would basically do whatever you told her to do. If you told her to roll her eyes, she would roll her eyes, and they claim that's what she was doing -- that she was responding to things that they were telling her to do," Martin said.
Child Protective Services is investigating the child's home life.
Harris County and Jackson County authorities became involved after several clues in the video seemed to show that the video had been filmed in the southeast Texas area. A map of Jackson County can be seen in the pocket of the car's front seat. An announcer from KHCB FM, a Houston Christian radio station, and an instrumental version of Jesus Loves Me can be heard in the background. The signal from the 100,000-watt radio station reaches into Jackson County.
The Jackson County sheriff is still concerned by what he saw.
"She's on the floor of the van -- no child protective seat there. Her environment is certainly in question," Sheriff A.J. Louderback said.
Investigators said even though the video recently came to light, it was shot on June 17.
All of the people in the video are from the Houston area, so local authorities will have jurisdiction.
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