Commuters at the Clarendon Hills Metra station grew worried when they saw an unattended toddler -- wearing only a diaper and a T-shirt -- sitting on the edge of the platform, throwing rocks at trains passing a few feet away.

But no one could approach the 2-1/2-year-old girl because she also was holding the leash of a large, protective Doberman pinscher, which lunged and growled at one woman who came too close, according to DuPage County prosecutors.

A passerby called Clarendon Hills police, who also were kept at bay by the dog.

The cops later followed the little girl and her dog home, then charged her father with misdemeanor child endangerment and felony unlawful possession of cocaine with intent to deliver.

On Wednesday the girl's father, 39-year-old Kenneth R. Johnson, was convicted by a DuPage County judge of the drug charge. Johnson, who was on probation for a 2002 drug offense when he was arrested on the new charges last October, now faces a 12- to 50-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor child endangerment charge to concentrate on the more serious drug felony, which they filed after police discovered about one pound of cocaine in Johnson's apartment when they returned with the little girl. Police also found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and $3,200 in the unit.

Johnson initially told investigators he hadn't realized his daughter had left the apartment on Oct. 10, authorities said. "He said he had fallen asleep and had not realized she had left the home,'' said Assistant State's Attorney Paul Marchese.

Dog Kept Commuters At Bay



But Johnson later offered a different version of events, saying he had given his daughter permission to take the dog for a walk, Marchese said.

During Wednesday's brief bench trial before Judge Perry Thompson, Johnson didn't testify. But he did blurt out an objection to Marchese's account of the events. "That's a lie,'' Johnson said, denying he offered differing statements to authorities.

The little girl was wearing a soiled diaper and T-shirt, but no pants or shoes, when she was spotted on the waiting platform next to the tracks about 5:15 p.m. When a woman commuter tried to talk to the toddler, the dog growled and lunged at her. That prompted another person on the train platform to call police, Marchese said.

Ultimately, police followed the girl a few blocks to her father's apartment, then arrested Johnson after spotting marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the unit.

The girl wasn't injured and her mother later took custody of her, authorities said. The girl apparently had been visiting Johnson, but didn't live full time with him, said Jeff York, Johnson's court-appointed attorney.


dayumm....

how are you gonna give a 2 year old permission to walk a dog

Dobermanns ROCK!!!

I wonder what will happen to the dog now.

miranda didn't see this yet

funkpill said:

WTF?



This is only one of the things wrong with our fucked up system.



Having a pound of cocaine is considered more serious than endangering a child.

butterfli25 said:

speaking of, i am missing the hell out of IrristableBitch. i should e-mail her
[Edited 8/17/06 11:07am]

butterfli25 said:

Here I am

isnt that something!

Here's my protective baby

gorgeous!

brownsugar said:

I was just saying that to myself...OMG...that makes me so mad!