Man arrested after forcing 3-yr-old to smoke meth

By Quoc Thang, Tuong Van   March 27, 2023 | 06:44 am PT
Man arrested after forcing 3-yr-old to smoke meth
Le Van Bam at a police station in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Tuong Van
Ho Chi Minh City police have arrested Le Van Bam, 44, for drug possession after viral videos showed him forcing his lover’s 3-year-old son to smoke meth.

Aside from the drug possession charge, police are investigating Bam on charges of child abuse and "enticing others to use drugs."

Videos of Bam giving meth to the 3-year-old boy were brought to investigators’ attention by a man known only as Tai, the boy’s biological father, who reported the case to the police on Friday.

Police arrested Bam on Sunday afternoon at his house in Cu Chi District after a two-day search for him. The officers found meth, drug paraphernalia and other related evidence inside the house.

Bam tested positive for drugs, and fortunately the boy was negative. He is currently at the Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Hospital in stable condition with no abnormal symptoms.

The boy’s mother and Bam said they "only let the boy use meth once just for fun" many months ago.

Police are currently taking the testimonies of people involved in the case.

One of the clips Tai showed police revealed the boy in diapers sucking on a meth straw while a woman’s voice can be heard in the background asking: "Is that OK?"

Other videos showed Bam in shorts using hammers and pliers to threaten the boy. The clips went viral after Tai posted them on social media.

Photos cut from the video on social media show the 3-year-old boy in diapers sucking on a meth straw

Photos cut from the video on social media show a 3-year-old boy in diapers sucking on a meth straw.

Tai told police that he had gotten married in 2018 and then had two children, with the boy in the clip being the youngest child.

Two years ago, Tai said, his wife left him and took their children to live with the man in the videos.

Tai became worried about his children last year when he found out that the man living with his wife was using drugs.

Recently, he was using his wife’s Facebook to do business online and discovered the videos, which he showed the police.

According to Tai, the videos were 4-5 months old.

The HCMC Children's Rights Protection Association has urged police to act quickly on the case and clarify whether the boy has been abused.

 
 
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