Police Report: Toddler Abused by Mother’s Boyfriend Before Disappearance

New revelations have surfaced about the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding an Oklahoma toddler before she vanished, accused of being exchanged by her mother for methamphetamine with a drug dealer known as “Carlos.”

Ashley Rowland, aged 39, was previously charged with child abandonment in relation to the 2022 disappearance of her daughter, London Kerr, who was two at the time. During the search for London, authorities reportedly uncovered distressing details about her life before her disappearance. Consequently, Rowland and her 40-year-old boyfriend, Joshua Denton, are currently incarcerated and facing additional allegations.

Rowland is accused of enabling child abuse by injury on two counts and engaging in a pattern of criminal conduct. Denton is charged with six counts of child abuse, in addition to charges of forcible sodomy, lewd or indecent proposals or acts related to a child, and engaging in a pattern of criminal conduct, as per jail records. Alongside Rowland’s daughter, Denton has also been accused of abusing his own children.

A probable cause arrest affidavit revealed that investigators interviewed Denton’s children, who reported troubling allegations. Denton’s 15-year-old son claimed that Denton assaulted London with a wooden paddle and shot her with a BB gun, leaving marks and bruises. Authorities retrieved a BB gun and a paddle inscribed with “The Last Resort” from a storage unit linked to Denton and Rowland.

The teen also reported abuse towards himself and his older brother. He claimed his father restrained him to a chair with duct tape and whipped him with a belt, according to the complaint. Denton allegedly threatened his life, warning he would “make him disappear” if he informed the police, while Rowland witnessed the abuse passively, according to the boy’s claims.

Denton’s son mentioned the last encounter with London was when she was in a car with Denton and Rowland. Rowland purportedly instructed the boy to “say goodbye to London” before they left. He never saw her again, with Rowland stating that she was being taken to her father’s residence. The affidavit did not specify when this occurred.

Denton’s younger children told cops their father poured hot sauce on London’s eyes “more than one time” and would lock her in a closet, the affidavit said. He also allegedly made her bite down on a hot pepper. His daughter, age 8, accused Denton of sexually abusing her.

Investigators interviewed Rowland following her arrest in November. She claimed the aforementioned “Carlos” was London’s biological father. She said that in mid-April 2022, she met up with Carlos in a parking lot and handed London over to him without any of her identification papers. Rowland claimed Carlos was from Mexico and had no way of contacting him, according to cops.

But authorities questioned her timeline of when London would have been conceived and Rowland admitted she was in Georgia at the time and with her then-boyfriend, whom cops now believe is the girl’s biological father, the affidavit said. Cops could not locate anyone named Carlos with the birthdate she gave.

As Law&Crime previously reported, agents with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in April 2023 were tasked with taking custody of the toddler but were unable to locate her. The agents located Rowland at a residence in Moore, about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City.

However, authorities said they were later able to determine that Rowland was lying about the whereabouts of her daughter and contacted the Moore Police Department.

Rowland allegedly said that she had not seen the child since giving her to Carlos, who was selling her methamphetamine at the time, Tulsa CBS affiliate KOTV reported. But Rowland later said she was lying about Carlos being a drug dealer.

Oklahoma DHS reportedly told KOCO that the department cannot comment on the specifics of the case, but said the entire situation was “heartbreaking and unimaginable.”

The search for London continues. If she is alive, she will turn 6 years old next month. The Oklahoma City Police Department has taken over the investigation as cops believe she was last seen in their jurisdiction.

“We don’t have very credible information from the people that assumed responsibility or had custody of this child. So, when we take over an investigation, we have to go back and look at what has already been documented, so time is of the essence,” Sgt. Dillon Quirk told KOCO.

Rowland and Denton remain in the Cleveland County Jail without bond.