Got out of a crib
Opened the bedroom door
Went down the stairs
Opened the door of the house
Opened the gate
Went to the pond.
Exactly how much was the father supposed to do to prevent this? Tie the kid to the crib? You get in trouble for that. How about lock the kid's bedroom door from the outside? Well, you get in trouble for that too.
Meanwhile, a witness actually saw the kid neck deep in the pond -- and merely called 911. The witness knowingly left the kid in danger and waited for a professional rescue team to show up. I call that negligence.
But, hey, they decided to charge Dad for taking a nap.
You know, bad things happen -- or almost happen. We cannot arrest someone every time an unfortunate event nearly occurs.
He may have been sleeping one off
The article reports a neighbor “heard” her voice; did you acquire info from another source?
That was my first thought. Who the hell would see a one-year-old toddler in a pond, in danger of drowning, and proceed to go in and dial 911? How long did it take them to respond? Maybe 15 minutes?
If it hadn’t been for the dog, and for pure luck, the kid might have drowned even if it only took one minute.
Something isn’t right there. Either this father was so horrible that the neighbors didn’t dare intervene, or the witness who called the cops was a complete idiot.
Or the witness was more interested in getting the father in trouble with the police than with saving the life of the child.
My guess is, the cops and the DA don’t believe him. Unless they can prove his story false, the guy should not have been charged because based on his story this was not neglect. I am wondering if he was under the influence because it sounds as if hey had a hard time waking him up. Of course, if they did not do a blood test, we will never know.
I wonder what kind of dog it was. We have a pond in our backyard, and I am scared to death that one of our young kids will follow the dogs into the pond as our labs love to swim in it. I am even more frightened that they will follow them out onto the ice in the winter.
[Meanwhile, a witness actually saw the kid neck deep in the pond — and merely called 911. The witness knowingly left the kid in danger and waited for a professional rescue team to show up. I call that negligence.]
Excellent point. What a knucklehead this witness was.
You need to have hooks or bolts on the door high up where the kids cannot reach them. You can get a hook for about $2.
I think the father is not at fault but it goes to show you these little ones can get anywhere. Thank God for the doggy.
Can a normal one year old even reach a doorknob? That seems like it might be a stretch to me.
That got me, too. "Authorities pulled the kid out of the pond".
Someone saw a toddler neck deep in the water and didn't fish them out? What's up with that?
As for 'sleeping it off", for all we know, dad has a night job.
Not, imho, cause for charging the father unless there is something here no one is talking about.
I have watched a nearly two year old stack things to get to and open the outside door latch to try to go out-(BUSTED!--but would have succeeded)--(some) children are remarkably inventive and resourceful at that age.
That's the first thing I thought too. I could not see a little child in a pond and not do something besides call 911 and wait.
The real story here is the dog, who obviously has a higher IQ than the neighbor.