Noel Santoro

     A Midway man has been arrested and charged with three counts on Endangering the Welfare of a Minor in the Second Degree following a complaint the Sheriff’s Office received on October 2^nd. 

     A woman reported to the Sheriff’s Office that when she was administering a prescription medication to her 6 year old son, she observed that the capsules were empty.  It appeared as though someone had taken all of the capsules apart, removed the contents, put the capsules back together, and then returned them to the original bottle.  The woman noted that her husband (the child’s step father), 40 year old NOEL SANTORO, had been gone all day and that the child’s medication bottle had been in the vehicle with him.  She advised that the next morning when she retrieved the medication from the vehicle she noticed that one of the capsules was dirty in appearance, which prompted her to check the others.  She found all of them were empty.

     The woman had also been contacted by a school official to report that her child had not been behaving normally for a period of time and asked whether he was receiving his medications.

     Sheriff’s Investigators today located NOEL SANTORO and brought him to the Sheriff’s Office for questioning.  During the interview, SANTORO admitted taking the medication from the capsules and placing the empty capsules back into the bottle on three (3) separate occasions, knowing that this medication was to be given to the child.  Investigators determined SANTORO had consumed the medications.  He was afterwards charged with three (3) counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Minor in the Second Degree and taken to the Detention Center at around noon today.  He is currently incarcerated there in lieu of $1,000 bond, with an appearance in District Court set for October 11^th.  A No Contact Order was also served on SANTORO to prohibit his having any contact with the child.  In addition, NOEL SANTORO has been placed on a no bond hold for a Probation Violation from the District Court.

/s/ John F. Montgomery,
Baxter County Sheriff