ROCK SPRINGS – Following last week’s arrests that stemmed from a child welfare check, one person faces a felony and multiple misdemeanors after Rock Springs Police Department officers checked a camper trailer she and another man stayed in.
The welfare check on Pilot Butte Avenue resulted in felony charges filed against the couple residing in the main home on the property. A third person, Jennifer Fahrney, faces a felony charge of Child Endangerment, two misdemeanor counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, and two misdemeanor counts of Abandoning or Endangering Children. The felony comes from allegedly allowing a child in an area where methamphetamine was present and has a potential maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The four misdemeanors each have a potential maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. She is being held at the Sweetwater County Detention Center on a $7,000 cash or surety bond.
According to court documents, while officers were conducting a welfare check of the property, they allegedly discovered one of Fahrney’s two children sleeping on the top bunk of a bunk bed in the upstairs bedroom of the home, sleeping on a stained mattress without bed sheets. They learned about a 1972 Kit Companion camper trailer, Fahrney, a second child of hers, and Richard Turner had been staying in for about a month. The camper didn’t have running water and was heated by a portable heater, allegedly only having enough space for a bed and a small couch.
While officers were completing evidence entry for the search warrant they were granted, they located an orange container with a green leafy substance from inside the trailer in Fahrney’s purse. The substance allegedly tested presumptive positive for THC. They also located a clear glass pipe that allegedly contained a burnt residue inside, but officers were unable to field test it.
Officers were later called back to the property by the property owner’s son, who reported finding several needles and other drug paraphernalia when he started cleaning the property, along with a metal container that was under the bed. The container allegedly had paraphernalia and a clear baggie with .026 grams of a crystalline substance that field tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine.
Turner was also arrested and faces charges of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender and Interference with a Peace Officer that were filed in 2023. He is being held at the Sweetwater County Detention Center on a $20,000 cash or surety bond.
