Holland couple arrested for meth possession

• Tellinghuisen

Tellinghuisen

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PIPESTONE — A Holland man who recently had a 28-month jail sentence stayed is now back in jail and scheduled for a bail hearing Tuesday in Pipestone County District Court.

Just two weeks after Coty Allen Tellinghuisen, 28, was given a stayed sentence, he was charged with fifth-degree controlled substance possession and exposing a child to methamphetamine, along with a fifth-degree assault charge for hitting another inmate in the jail after his arrest. Those charges were filed this week. Tellinghuisen has previous convictions for drug-related arrests, is required to register as a predatory offender after a criminal sexual conduct conviction and also has a burglary conviction.

The complaint states Tellinghuisen was arrested May 31 after authorities had received several tips Tellinghuisen was living at a residence with his girlfriend, Megan Marie Dewitte. He was allegedly wanted on several warrants and had failed to register as a predatory offender.

When authorities approached the house, they found Dewitte’s 6-year-old son eating small apples from a tree. The boy said he hadn’t seen his mother in several days, but Coty was upstairs sleeping. Upon questioning, the boy said he had not eaten at all day and very little the day before. He said he was hungry, so he was eating the apples from the tree. The child, officers noted, was dirty.

He invited the deputies and agents into the house to talk to Tellinghuisen. Authorities found Tellinghuisen hiding in the upstairs attic. He shouted that he was coming out, and while they waited for him, authorities noted a metal marijuana pipe and marijuana sitting on a table. The house was secured until a search warrant could be obtained.

While searching the house, baggies with meth residue were found, along with children’s toys and clothing. The living conditions, a Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force agent noted, were bad, with rotten and moldy food throughout the residence including inside and on top of the child’s bed. Multiple garbage bags were found in the house, as were cans of bug spray.

The child was removed from the household and Dewitte, 24, was located at her father’s residence.

She was allegedly argumentative and appeared to be under the influence of meth.

She is charged with fifth-degree controlled substance possession and exposing a child to meth.

At the jail, both Tellinghuisen and Dewitte tested positive for meth.

On June 4, a deputy was called to the jail after a fight was reported between two of the inmates. The complaint states the deputy found an inmate screaming and bleeding from the mouth after allegedly being struck by Tellinghuisen.

Tellinghuisen was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2005 and sentenced to 23 months in prison. He was charged with second-degree burglary in January and with fifth-degree controlled substance possession in March. His sentence for both cases was the stayed prison term on the condition he serve 180 days in jail with credit for time served.

Dewitte is currently on probation after a 2010 conviction for her second driving while impaired charge.

Tags: news, crime, holland, couple, arrested, meth, possession