Local News

Couple charged with child abuse, selling crack

A Holly Springs couple was charged Friday with child abuse for allegedly selling crack cocaine from their home, according to arrest warrants.

Posted Updated
Ryan McNeil
HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — A Holly Springs couple was charged Friday with child abuse for allegedly selling crack cocaine from their home, according to arrest warrants.

Ryan McNeil, 36, and his girlfriend Christen Horton, 28, both of 6000 Holly Lane, were arrested after a month-long investigation by Holly Springs police, spokesman Mark Andrews said.

They both face three counts of misdemeanor child abuse and two counts each of possession with intent to sell and deliver crack cocaine and maintaining a dwelling place for a controlled substance.

The warrants say that McNeil had two sons in the home, and Horton had one. All the boys were under age 10, and one is less than a year old, Andrews said. They have been placed with their grandmother.

Police found six pieces of crack cocaine in the house, according to the warrants.

Andrews said that child abuse charges are standard in cases where drugs are being sold from a home.

McNeil and Horton were being held in the Wake County jail Saturday under separate $60,000 bonds. They were scheduled to appear in court March 15.

McNeil has previous convictions for felony possession with intent to sell, felony attempting to maintain any place for a controlled substance and two counts of misdemeanor drug charges, according to state Department of Correction records. He served probation for those convictions.

 Credits 

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.