HAZLETON -- A little boy from Hazleton is in the hospital after paramedics discovered narcotics in his system.
Police said it was the child’s uncle who gave him the drugs.
Richard Belusko of Hazleton is locked up for the crime in Luzerne County.
He faces charges including child endangerment.
Hazleton police said Belusko gave his 10-year-old nephew Vicodin pills.
That boy was found unresponsive inside a home on Carson Street in Hazleton.
City police said the boy's mom called 9-1-1 after she heard Belusko screaming her son's name.
The boy was unconscious on a couch.
According to court papers, when police questioned Belusko, he first said that the boy had choked on candy.
Later, he told police that his nephew accidentally took two Vicodin pills on Belusko's dresser.
Then, the man said he was the one who gave the boy the drug because his nephew was complaining about leg pain.
Police said Belusko did not have a prescription for the Vicodin.
"An adult medication is not meant for a child," said Dr. Rudy Carbaugh.
The pediatrics specialist at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center said Vicodin is made up two both a narcotic and Tylenol.
For a young child, a narcotic overdose could cause a child to stop breathing and even lead to death.
"The Tylenol component of it, in high enough doses, even though it doesn't sound like it could be dangerous could actually cause liver damage and lead to the child needing a liver transplant," said Dr. Carbaugh.
Neighbors tell Newswatch 16 that the family who lives inside the home where the boy was found unresponsive is a good, hardworking family.
Neighbors also said they can't believe what happened to that 10-year-old boy.
"I think that's absolutely disgusting," said Jennifer Harkar of Hazleton.
Harkar lives down the street from where the boy was found.
She said the child probably didn't even know what kind of drug he was taking.
"They're just going to go along with the adult because we're supposed to teach the children."
Belusko is behind bars at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on $20,000 bail.
As of Friday, the child was in the intensive care unit at a local hospital.