BATON ROUGE – Police say a Baton Rouge man was arrested after he forced an 8-year-old to smoke marijuana.

According to Baton Rouge Police, on Feb. 25 around 3 p.m., officers responded to a public assistance call for an 8-year-old. The child told officers that he saw 29-year-old Jason Taylor return from an apartment with a clear baggie with marijuana.

The child also told officers that Taylor placed marijuana in a cigar and told the child to smoke it.

Arrest records say the child led police to the box of cigars and paper used to make marijuana cigarettes and blunts.

Taylor told police that he did not give the child marijuana but said the 8-year-old woke up having a panic attack and called 911.

The child was transported to a local hospital for treatment. BRPD investigators later obtained a search warrant for the child’s medical records and drug test results.

Police say the child told hospital staff that Taylor forced him to smoke the marijuana which led to a headache and pounding chest pain and racing heart. The child also told staff that his uncle made him smoke marijuana in the past.

BRPD says the child was interviewed later and said that Taylor made him smoke marijuana three separate times, including once with his 10-year-old cousin. Investigators contacted the 10 –year-old who said that Taylor gave him marijuana in October 2015. Since that date, the 10-year-old said he smoked marijuana with Taylor approximately five more times.

Arrest records indicate that Taylor has a criminal history of theft, forgery, looting and resisting arrest. He was charged with two felony counts of cruelty to juveniles and one count of illegal use of a drugs in the presence of a juvenile.