MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police in Oxford, Mississippi have charged two men in two separate cases with felony child neglect after police say children living in their homes tested positive for illegal drugs.
Derek Joslin, 36, and Ryan Yourn, 36, face felony child neglect charges. Oxford Police tell us the investigations are not related, but the department says their investigations started after claims of child neglect. When test results came back, they discovered children at the men’s homes tested positive for illegal drugs.
Police just notified us about their arrests, but the investigations started in May and June.
“The more we can be informed, the better we are in dealing with these things. No one deserves to be neglected or mistreated,” said Oxford Police Deputy Chief Sheridan Maiden.
The ages of the children or the suspected drugs have not been released.
Maiden says he believes more people are paying more attention to potential neglect cases.
“People are more informed, and the more informed they are, the more they will get involved and provide information or look into things,” Maiden says. “We are attempting to add more information to our reporting process so that we can better track these cases.”
He says information is critical for officers. Maiden says if you see something that doesn’t seem right, say something.
“If you don’t feel comfortable talking to law enforcement, go to someone you trust that can relay that information and we can get it in the pipeline where it can get to us, where we can look into it,” Maiden said.
Both men were taken into custody on $20,000 bond. Police did not say what drug was detected in the children.
