Parents accused of giving kids drugs as ‘bargaining tool’

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – A couple gave their teenage daughters cocaine and marijuana if they went to school and did household chores, authorities said.

Chad and Joey Mudd, of Largo, a suburb in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, gave their daughters, ages 13 and 14, drugs as a “bargaining tool” for school attendance and doing chores, Pinellas County Sheriff’s detectives said. They were arrested Monday.

According to an affidavit, the mother said she smoked pot with her daughters five times and the father snorted cocaine with the teens and one of his daughter’s boyfriends in his truck.

Chad Mudd, the 36-year-old father who works at an area beach bar, was charged with six counts of child abuse and one count of possession of cocaine. Joey Mudd, the girls’ 34-year-old mom, was charged with two counts of child abuse. Arrest records say she works at a pediatrician’s office.

Joey Mudd was released Wednesday on bail and Chad Mudd was released Thursday on bail. Calls to telephone numbers belonging to the Mudds weren’t answered. It’s unclear if they’ve retained an attorney.

It’s not clear who has taken custody of the children. The sheriff’s office hasn’t immediately returned a telephone call.