WABC – A new law was introduced in honor of 20-month-old River Wilson, who drowned in a pool at a residential day care in the Bronx.
Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres says several failures led to River’s death last month.
They included, a lack of adult supervision, inadequate safety inspections, no fencing around the pool, and no alarms on the doors or in the pool.
Torres said that “River’s Law” would ban swimming pools at residential day care facilities.
“It would require residential day care centers to be equipped with alarms,” Torres said. “There is no greater act of negligence than the neglect of an infant or toddler who is left within falling distance of a swimming pool.”
So far, no charges have been filed against the day care owner in River’s death.
The 47-year-old day care operator told police she was cooking food when River got out of the house through the back screen door.
Torres says CDC data shows drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for toddlers, and most of them are in residential pools.
