Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.
Metro Police are recommending that a Las Vegas day-care operator be charged with child neglect for leaving alone an 8-month-old boy who strangled himself, a police official said Monday.
Aidan Baldwin was found dead Wednesday after he apparently got tangled in a cord from a nearby wall lamp and the cord became wrapped around his neck, police said. Gloria Austin, the day-care provider, was not in the room at the time, police said, and should be charged.
"We've conducted an investigation and we've determined that this case will be submitted to the Clark County district attorney's office," said Lisa Teele, who runs Metro's abuse and neglect unit.
Police hope to submit the case to prosecutors by the end of the week, she said. It will be up to prosecutors to determine whether they will pursue charges against Austin in court.
Austin ran a day care out of her home. Reached at her home by telephone late Monday, Austin said she was not aware that police planned to file charges against her. She declined to comment further.
Authorities said Aidan was sleeping in a crib in a bedroom out of the sight of the day-care operator when he became wrapped in the cord.
The cord was still plugged in and the light to which it was attached still was hanging on the wall. An autopsy determined that the infant died from "accidental hanging," according to the coroner's office.
Teele said the fact that the baby was left alone near the cord was enough to warrant a neglect charge.
"Anytime you have any sort of devices around a child that the child can get a hold of without securing it, that can constitute a negligent act," she said.
Teele said police also investigated whether Austin was negligent in her care of eight other children she cared for. Police determined Austin was not negligent with those children, Teele said.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger said prosecutors will perform their own investigation when they receive the case.
If they decide to go forward with charges, Austin will be charged under the same child abuse and neglect law prosecutors used to charge about a half-dozen Las Vegas parents who left their children alone in cars during the summer months.
Several of those parents still face charges in Las Vegas Justice Court. Two parents whose children died after they were left alone in cars were not charged because prosecutors said they did not intentionally leave their children in the cars.
Roger said prosecutors will consider similar elements when determining whether to charge Austin.
"It's the same statute," he said. "We look at the law to see if the facts support all the elements of the crime. Intent will play a role."
Austin runs the day care in her home in the 4400 block of Casa Blanca Street in Paradise township, near Boulder Highway and Flamingo Road.
Authorities from Clark County social services suspended Austin's license Wednesday, shortly after the incident.
She had been licensed to provide child care since 1989 and had only one complaint filed against her in that time. Authorities said that claim was unsubstantiated.
In Las Vegas about 135 homes are licensed as family child-care providers. Aidan's was the first death at a licensed family child-care center in five years, authorities said.
Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said this morning that the county's social services department could not comment on whether Austin's license allowed her to have children in the room the baby was found in.
She said county officials had not received word from Metro that the investigation was formally closed.
"Once the investigation is complete we'll make the decision as to whether to to permanently remove her license or not," she said.
Austin voluntarily closed the day care pending the investigation and is expected to voluntarily surrender her license once the investigation is complete, Welling said.
She said Austin did not need a separate license to have a crib because during the last investigation by county officials she had playpens, which fall under the same licensing code.
"That wasn't an issue," Welling said.
Debbie Barter, of the Southern Nevada Area Health Education Center, said the tragedy that unfolded at Austin's home shows that it takes a team effort to provide children with proper care.
Parents need to play an active role when it comes to selecting a day care provider for their children, she said.
"It shows that everyone needs to take responsibility," she said. "Parents need to be very diligent when it comes to selecting who they take their children to. Parents need to be informed."
The Southern Nevada Area Health Education Center provides education to day care providers and parents on children's safety issues. Still, she said, accidents can always happen.
Because Austin was thoroughly licensed by the county, Barter said she is not sure the baby's death will make a difference in the quality of day care in the Las Vegas Valley.
"We can't say if there was really neglect," she said. "It could have just been a horrible tragedy."
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