Custody of the unnamed child, who appeared in two gruesome images released by Ohio police via Facebook last week, has been granted to his great uncle and great aunt following a court order.
The images show the child sitting in the back seat while his 50-year-old grandmother, Rhonda Pasek, and her boyfriend, James Acord, sit slumped and unconscious.
Pasek, who was granted custody of the boy six weeks earlier, continues to be held on charges of child endangerment.
Dane Walton, the Juvenile Court administrator in Columbia County, told NBC News on Wednesday the judge's report indicated there was "no evidence brought forward" that Ms Pasek had a drug issue when she was granted custody of the child.
In a Facebook post written by the police, they said sharing the images was done to illustrate the dangers of "the poison known as heroin".
A second image released by the police (Facebook) Source: Facebook
Police public safety chief Brian Allen, who was one of three officers behind the decision to post the images, was unapologetic.
"If we hadn't, Rhonda Pasek would have received a slap on the wrist and that little boy would have gone back to her - that's not going to happen now,” he told the Daily Mail
“I doubt she will see that child again.”
Ms Pasek's sister, who wished not to be identified, said the police decision to post the images on social media had "humiliated" their family.
"They could have blurred his (the boy's) face and they didn't," she told NBC News.
"And now they're taking him away from my sister.
"I'm not condoning what Rhonda done, but what they did to her and what they're doing to her grandson is too much."
The boy’s mother, Reva McCullough, 25, told the Daily Mail she "bawled for four days straight" when she saw the images and that she wanted her “boy back'.
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