(4/13/99)

It's an epidemic that claims new victims every day in Utah -- methamphetamine addiction.

A recent victim -- the daughter of a prominent law enforcement officer.

News Specialist Karen Scullin spoke with Utah County Sheriff Dave Bateman, about his daughter's battle with meth.

Utah County Sheriff Dave Bateman says his daughter is a different person when she's not on methamphetamine. He describes her as, "Friendly, attractive, competent, smart, very talented."

But 29-year-old Paula Bateman has been battling a meth addiction for nine years. Sheriff Bateman never wanted to believe it.

"I went into a state of denial and just refused to believe that *my* kid could be involved in something like that," he says.

Last Wednesday night in American Fork, Paula Bateman was arrested for possession of and distributing meth, and carrying a handgun.

She was in jail for one night and bailed out. It was her first drug arrest, and a shock to the whole family.

"I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. Somebody else's family, I bet I could have done it. But my own, missed it," the Sheriff says.

Bateman hasn't had any contact with his daughter since her arrest, and seems to be taking the "tough love" approach.

"Both her mother and I love her. But that does not mean that we accept what she has done or her lifestyle."

But the door isn't completely closed. "She needs to realize that any time she 's ready to make a change we'll be there," Bateman says.