Boy, 7, Faces Cocaine Charge

A 7-year-old boy has been arrested for bringing 20 rocks of crack cocaine to school earlier this week.

The first-grader was being held in juvenile detention Friday and investigators were still trying to determine how he got the drugs.

A teacher at Eleanor Skillen Public School 34 found the drugs Monday, the first day of Red Ribbon Week, an annual celebration for students who choose to live a drug-free life.

She called police after a student told her the boy "brought something nasty" with him to school, officials said Thursday.

The boy told police two stories about how he got the crack. In one version, he told school police he found the drugs on the street. In the other version, the boy told investigators he brought the cocaine from home.

The 3.5 grams of cocaine the boy was carrying has a street value of about $400.

The most immediate punishment could be expulsion from school, but school officials are awaiting input from the prosecutor's office and police investigation, spokeswoman Rebecca Bibbs said.

The boy faces a Nov. 4 court date on a charge of drug possession.