By Jacob Mathias

A Stevens Point woman faces child neglect charges after a police interview uncovered stories of drug use, drinking with a child and not providing food.

Misty Burse, 38, is charged with misdemeanor child neglect. Burse made her initial appearance in Portage County Circuit Court on June 13.

According to the criminal complaint, a 12-year-old girl in Burse’s home met with investigators at the Child Advocacy Center in Wausau in March. She alleged there was no food in Burse’s Frances St. home, adding she would often have to go elsewhere to find food.

Burse also was reportedly harboring a man with an active warrant for his arrest in her home. The girl said when police came to the home searching for the man, she had to the door because Burse was “too messed up.” She also reportedly told the girl to lie to the police about the man’s whereabouts.

The girl reported seeing the man smoking meth in the home and had seen her mother use drugs as well. She also reported that someone had stowed four ounces of marijuana in her dresser drawer.

On one occasion, the girl said she had seen Burse in the bathroom with a needle in her arm.

The girl also said Burse buys her cigarettes, and admitted she’d been drunk with Burse on three straight weekends starting in February.

On another occasion it was reported two teenage boys were allowed to sleep over in Burse’s home and they shared beds with minor girls who lived there, though no sexual activity was reported.

The girl also told police Burse also pushes, slaps and chokes her.

When police spoke with Burse on March 9, she admitted allowing two boys to stay in her home, adding it “was probably not a good idea”.

She also admitted she’d relapsed and began using drugs again in February by injecting herself with Ritalin. She said she typically would inject herself at a nearby gas station so the minors did not see her, according to the complaint.

She also admitted to keeping a box with various spoons, syringes and pills in the bathroom of her home.

Burse could face up to a $10,000 fine, nine months imprisonment or both if convicted.

An additional two years imprisonment can be added to the standard punishment, as Burse is a repeat offender with a conviction of narcotics possession in October 2013.

Burse’s next court date has not yet been set.