I wish people would read the whole article; the grandparents own the pool in their backyard; they were not at home at the time; the mother of the baby was at home when he slipped out; the grandparents have legal custody and make regular visits to see the little boy; 911 was called by the mother after she jumped in and pulled him out of the water; the reason he is in the assisted facility isn’t specified as opposed to home care but might be a requirement of previous agreements between insurers and health care personnel.
Only the officer’s lawyer said anything about the pool not meeting safety requirements.
I have done so. The facts speak for themselves - the fact that the child went in the water on his own is evidence that the pool was not properly childproofed. And if you put your child into a situation like that, you have a responsibility to make sure they are supervised at all times.
I didn't notice from the story that the child had a father. Did I miss something there?
Current codes do require that a pool built in Florida have either a automatic cover or that all doors and/or windows opening into the pool area have alarms or that a barrier be built around the pool. In addition any fencing around the property which has a pool must meet minimum height and material standards, as well as having self latching lockable gates.
However there is nothing in the code that requires a pool be retrofitted and alarms get disconnected, barrier taken down and no parent can be everywhere at once. Even with the best precautions accidents happen. That is why reason the sliding glass door to my in law’s pool has a nail lock well above child reach and why the screen patio doors have latches at the top of the door.
Our children also learned that should they step onto the pool patio without one of us they got a very quick spanking. No lecture, no time out, I wanted them to know I was serious. Better a sore butt than a dead child.