EAST LIVERPOOL – Photographs released by East Liverpool city officials Thursday regarding a drug-related traffic stop received widespread attention through social media, sparking both praise and criticism from the public.

The alarming photos appeared Thursday afternoon on the City of East Liverpool’s Facebook page, showing two adults-a female and a male-appearing to be passed out and slumped over due to a drug overdose while a 4-year-old boy sits in the back seat. The adults were later identified as 50-year-old Rhonda L. Pasek – the child’s grandmother – and 47-year-old James L. Acord, both of New Cumberland, W.Va.

According to reports, Acord was operating a vehicle south along St. Clair Avenue in the city on Wednesday when it came close to hitting a stopped school bus. When the bus pulled away, the vehicle drifted toward an area of Morton and Prospect streets. An off-duty officer made contact with the couple, who were reported unconscious. Paramedics revived the two and transported them to East Liverpool City Hospital, where they were later arrested.

Pasek had legal custody of her grandson, but on Friday county Juvenile Court Judge Thomas Baronzzi issued an emergency order transferring temporary custody to the child’s great-aunt and uncle in South Carolina.

Two photos taken by police were posted on the city’s Facebook page, which also included the full police report. Although most news outlets throughout the country blurred the child’s face, the Journal and others did not, and the city’s uploaded photographs were unaltered.

The city issued a disclaimer with the post, stating its intention was to show the dangers of drug abuse and warned viewers of the disturbing nature of the photos.

“We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug. We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess. This child can’t speak for himself, but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody,” the statement said.

Police Chief John Lane said Friday the photographs show the public how serious the drug epidemic has been, especially in southern Columbiana County. “The picture says it all, does it not?” he said.

“This is what my guys (police officers) are dealing with on a daily basis and nobody wants to see the issue,” Lane added. “This is a major issue. (Acord and Pasek) had no concern with their safety, the public’s safety or the 4-year-old’s safety. They followed the bus down the hill. They could’ve easily passed out and ran over everybody getting off the bus, went off the road and hit a house, hit a car head-on, anything could happen. It’s only by the grace of God that nothing happened. Nobody got hurt.”

Safety-Service Director Brian Allen said the photos were released after discussing the matter with the city’s assistant law director, Timothy McNicol, noting the photos were placed together with the police report and as a result became public information.

“Unfortunately as a public official, I don’t get to decide when I can and can’t edit public records. Those photos and that police report are public records … When I release something that’s public record, it’s got to be what it is,” Allen said.

Lane said the boy’s emotionless look captured in the photographs remained unchanged during the entire incident.

“If I blur out faces, you’d lose the effect of the picture,” Lane said. “When you see that little kid’s face, that’s the way he looked the entire time. The officers that were there (said) that kid was completely emotionless the entire time. That tells you what that kid is seeing on a daily basis. Them passed out like that, it didn’t even phase him. So you got to imagine what that poor little guy has to go through.”

Reaction to the photos spread like wildfire via social media, receiving both national and international attention. Many of the comments through the city’s Facebook page have been in support of the officers and their efforts, while others expressed sadness or outrage about the boy’s face being shown.

Lane admitted that while he did expect local attention from the Facebook post and resulting local news stories, he didn’t realize the national attention it would receive. “I didn’t think L.A. Somebody from L.A. called me,” he said.

While some may have been upset with the unblurred photo, Lane said the purpose was to get people’s attention that the drug epidemic is and has been a serious problem that needs addressed.

“This is exactly the point of putting that picture out there: it shakes the tree enough that we’re going to get people to notice and start talking about this as a major issue,” Lane said. “We need to stop trying to hide it. Some people were upset that this was put in the paper, or put online like that, but they can pull their head out of the sand. This is reality. This is what officers are dealing with daily, and they need the tools to fix the issue, not keep putting band-aids on it.”

So far to date, according to Allen, the story has been viewed over 1.2 million times. As of 3:40 p.m. on the city’s official Facebook page, it has experienced 20,430 shares and 2,982 comments from the original post with over 7,000 reactions, with 2,400 “likes”, 2,200 “angry” reactions and 2,200 “sad” reactions.

Meanwhile, Acord pleaded no contest Thursday in East Liverpool Municipal Court to driving under the influence and endangering children, and was fined $475 and sentenced to 360 days in jail. Pasek has pleaded not guilty to her charges of child endangering, disorderly conduct and a seat belt violation. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

—

Staff Writer Tom Giambroni contributed to this story.