A Dubuque man been has sentenced to 15 years in prison for exposing his toddler daughter to drugs and injuring the child. 29 year old Antonio Kitch was sentenced in Iowa District Court of Dubuque County after entering a guilty plea to a charge of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person and an Alford plea to child endangerment-bodily injury. Such a plea is not an admission of guilt, but the defendant acknowledges that there is sufficient evidence for a conviction. Kitch and 32 year old Amanda Draves of Dubuque took their 2-year-old daughter to MercyOne Dubuque Medical Center on May 20th. A hospital scan indicated bleeding in the brain, and the child was airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City for treatment of life-threatening injuries. Tests of the child’s hair showed exposure to cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and alcohol. A hair sample from Draves tested positive for cocaine exposure and a hair sample from Kitch tested positive for meth, cocaine and marijuana.
