PALM BAY, Fla. – A 3-year-old girl nearly drowned when her babysitter left the child and five others unattended at a community pool Saturday, according to the Palm Bay Police Department.
Officers said Adrianne White, 18, took the six children she was babysitting to the pool when White claims she instructed the three older children to watch the three younger ones while she left for 90 seconds to get a drink from her car, according to the report.
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During that time, White told police as she was walking back to the pool, one of the children came running out and yelling the girl “was dead.” The report says White walked to the pool gate as one of the children carried the girl out of the pool area and the girl’s eldest sister was directed “to the grassy area in the parking lot.”
According to police, White told the girl’s sister to call their mother, but White did not call 911.
Video surveillance of the pool area contradicted White’s claims of leaving the children unattended for 90 seconds. According to the report, police observed a video of the children entering the pool area without the babysitter until 25 minutes later.
Officers said the footage showed during the time the babysitter was not present, the 3-year-old girl went underwater twice and two other children, also struggling to swim, had to be helped by the older siblings.
After 25 minutes, video shows White standing at the pool gate and waiting for the sibling to bring the girl who nearly drowned. Officers said they spoke to the three older children but said it appeared they were told what to say to the police, according to the report.
White faces three counts of child neglect and is charged with two counts of false reports to law enforcement.