Suburban Philly day care owner charged in death of toddler left in hot minivan outside center
By APFriday, August 7, 2009
Pa. day care owner charged in toddler’s heat death
PENNDEL, Pa. — The owner of a suburban Philadelphia day care has been charged in the death of a toddler left in a hot minivan for hours outside the center last month.
Bucks County authorities charged Rimma Shvartsman on Friday with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child and leaving a child unattended in a vehicle.
Authorities say Shvartsman drove her 2-year-old neighbor, Daniel Slutsky, to the Fairy Tales Daycare Center in Penndel on July 1 but left him in the van. They say she returned to the vehicle late that afternoon to find the boy unresponsive.
Shvartsman’s attorney called the boy’s death a tragedy and said no punishment the state could impose is harsher than the penalty his client is already paying.
The boy’s parents sued the center last month.
