Pocatello woman gets probation for felony injury to a child charge
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POCATELLO — A woman who was found asleep while her 4-year-old daughter was wandering the area of Pocatello’s Centennial Park has been sentenced to probation.
In addition to three years of felony probation, Justine Khalil Rickard, 34, must complete a drug treatment program. A prison sentence of 18 months to three years was suspended by District Judge Rick Carnaroli, but he added a 120-day discretionary jail sentence that could be used if her probation officer deems it necessary.
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Rickard was arrested in April after officers from the Pocatello Police Department received calls of a young child alone in Centennial Park, on 5th Avenue. Officers located the child, then found Rickard asleep at her nearby home with the front door opened nearly four hours later.
At the time of her arrest, Rickard was found in possession of a substance that returned a presumptive positive for methamphetamine when tested with a field test kit.
She reached a plea deal with the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office in December and, in exchange for pleading guilty to a felony charge of injuring a child, a felony charge for possession of meth was dismissed.
Rickard was also ordered to pay $845.50 in fines.