FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP — The parents of a 4-year-old boy face charges of child endangering after Warren County sheriff's deputies took two loaded guns from the child, who apparently shot the family dog, Sheriff Tom Ariss said Friday.

        The incident occurred at about 11 a.m. Nov. 3 at a home in the 6000 block of Manchester Road. The boy has been placed in the care of Warren County Children's Services.

        Officers said the incident was not made public for several days because the investigation was not complete.

        The sheriff said deputies were called by a utility service technician who reported seeing a small child firing a gun in the rear of the residence.

        Deputies took a rifle from him and noticed the dead dog in a backyard kennel. The boy told officers the dog was “a bad dog” but no one saw the child shoot the animal, the sheriff said.

        As deputies approached the rear of the house to locate the boy's mother, the boy ran into his home and returned with another loaded firearm, which the deputies took from him.

        His mother, Mesa Nicole Neuman, 27, told officers she had been asleep. She acknowledged keeping the firearms in a closet in the bedroom where the boy slept, officers said.

        Officers say they found several other long guns, other weapons including a crossbow with razor-tipped arrows, marijuana, cocaine and more than $2,500 in cash.

        The boy's father, Thomas John Flanagan, 34, came home while deputies were there and admitted the drugs were his, Sheriff Ariss said.

        Besides child endangering, Ms. Neuman and Mr. Flanagan each face charges of cultivation of marijuana and drug abuse. Ms. Neuman also has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Both are cited to appear in Franklin Municipal Court. No court date has been set, Sheriff Ariss said Friday.

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