I-TEAM: Mother booked in drug bust previously investigated by DCFS

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Sabrina Scott, 35, was arrested during a drug bust this week and was previously investigated by the Department of Children and Family Services according to an internal DCFS report obtained by the WAFB I-TEAM.

According to a source within the agency, doctors first reported Scott to DCFS back in October when one of the kids was brought to the hospital with amphetamine in his system. A doctor reached out to DCFS saying the child had taken drugs, according to the source.

After arresting Scott, deputies carried out a search warrant at her home where they seized scales, packaging materials, a gun and $650 in cash. Tonja Myles, a community activist who is vocal about the dangers of drugs, calls it heartbreaking.

“That puts any kid at risk, not only to accidentally overdose or use,” said Myles. “But also what are we really showing them when they’re seeing us actually sell illicit drugs or use illicit drugs?”

During the drug sting, Scott was picked up after allegedly selling drugs in a parking lot on Plank Road to undercover agents with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Through their investigation, deputies monitored jail calls between Scott and her boyfriend Magali Donaldson where he allegedly walked her through how to sell the drugs on his behalf while he was locked up. Donaldson has a number of drug charges going back to 2009 and is currently behind bars after being arrested last month on possession charges. Myles says this kind of environment can be traumatic for kids.

“When we’re talking about breaking the cycle of that, we have to really address what it does to the family, particularly kids because they’re innocent bystanders in all of this and for them to have to go through what they see, it’s traumatizing and if not addressed, then it can cause them to have so many different challenges,” said Myles.

Over the last week, agents were able to make four separate purchases of heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine from Scott. At the time, deputies say she had two small children with her during the drug deals. WAFB has learned those children were just 10 years old and 4 years old.

“For any mom to think that the only avenue she had was to sell drugs then we need to let parents know there are better ways,” Myles added. “There are resources out here in our community that you can take advantage of. There’s a whole lot of organizations who address things of that nature.”

According to the internal DCFS report, all three children are now in the care of a grandparent.

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