How Could You? Hall of Shame-Desi Scarbrough case-Child Death-UPDATED

By on 7-24-2011 in Abuse in foster care, Desi Scarbrough, How could you? Hall of Shame, Illinois

How Could You? Hall of Shame-Desi Scarbrough case-Child Death-UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.


From Decatur, Illinois, 7-year-old foster child Desi Scarbrough drowned Tuesday July 19, 2011 “while on a routine outing with his day care center, was found at the bottom of the swimming pool after the teachers and other children left the pool area.”

DCFS is responsible for licensing day care centers. They will investigate allegations of neglect related to the day care center, not foster family, in this case.

“”There is a concurrent investigation involving our licensing department and child protection services.”

Whitlow said the day care center Desi attended at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church has a clean record.

“We have no prior investigations regarding abuse or neglect regarding this facility,” Whitlow said.
Desi, a quiet boy who could not swim and did not like going into the water, was at Sun ‘n Fun Swim and Golf Club along with 40 other children ages 5 to 12 and four teachers.

The St. Paul’s Lutheran School day care center rents the pool for its exclusive use from 10 to 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

After the children were told to leave the pool Tuesday, they changed clothes and lined up for staff members for the return trip to the center.”

“When a staff member realized one of the children was missing, she sent an 8-year-old boy back to the pool area to look for him. Male children are routinely used to locate other boys in the bathroom and locker room, because the staff members are all women.

A lifeguard, who had been positioned on the west side of the L-shaped pool, told police she left her station after the day care people left the area. As she walked around the pool to fix an umbrella, she noticed a dark shape in the pool near the wall on the south side. She took no action at that time.

At about that time, the boy who had been sent into the pool area reported to a teacher that he had found Desi’s clothes, possibly in the locker room.

Then a day care staff member came into the pool area and told the lifeguards that a child was missing.”

“According to one police report, it was about 11:10 a.m. when the day care staff realized a child was missing.

Decatur police officers were dispatched to the swim club at 11:20 a.m. Firefighters from Firehouse 5, who received the call at 11:22 a.m., were on the scene when police arrived.

Desi was transported to Decatur Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:01 p.m.

One of the questions DCFS investigators will be asking is whether St. Paul’s Lutheran Church day care center met its licensing standards regarding staff/children ratios.

According to DCFS rules regarding day care staffing at swimming facilities, there must be one staff member for every eight 5-year-olds, one for every 10 children 6 to 8 years old and one for every 15 children 9 and older.

In addition, one staff member must be designated exclusively to serve as a bathroom monitor and “provide other general out-of-water-supervision.”

The staff-to-children ratio requirements are in addition to lifeguards on duty.”

DCFS will investigate drowning of boy at local swim club
[Herald & Review 7/22/11 by Huey Freeman]

Update/February 27, 2012:

We found one more article about the coroner’s inquest, but no other followup articles.

” Desi Scarbrough, a 7-year-old boy who drowned during a field trip with a day care center, was possibly not seen by lifeguards because he was lying at the bottom of the pool in a shadowed area, not visible from the surface.

That was one of several details revealed at a coroner’s inquest Wednesday morning in the drowning death of the quiet, popular child who could not swim and hated to go into the water.
The Macon County Coroner’s jury ruled that Desi’s death was accidental, with no evidence of foul play.
Coroner Michael E. Day said an autopsy revealed that the cause of death was drowning.
Desi was on an outing with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church day care center at Sun ‘n Fun Swim Club, on the city’s far north side, on the morning of July 19. There were 41 children accompanied by four teachers at the swimming pool for the regularly scheduled session from 10 to 11 a.m.
Decatur police detective Doug Allen testified that witnesses told police that the 3-foot tall child normally stayed in the shallowest part of the pool, the northwest corner, either on the stairs or close by.
However, on July 19, one child reported seeing Desi “swimming toward the ladder” in the corner of the pool where the water is 5-feet deep. The child said it appeared heDesi was going to make it to the ladder. The child saw bubbles coming out of Desi’s mouth as he headed toward the ladder.
The child did not know that Desi could not swim, the detective said.
There were two lifeguards on duty that day, both of whom said they scanned the pool after all the children left about 11 a.m.
When teachers realized they were missing a child, they put a call on the loudspeaker for all St.Paul’s children to report to the front area. A female lifeguard then saw a shape at the bottom of the pool, near the side.
When the lifeguard later realized the shape was a child, she carried him out of the pool. Then lifeguards administered CPR.
Desi was discovered at the bottom 10 or 15 minutes after the other children had left the pool.
Lifeguards reported that Desi was not responsive and never displayed any signs of life.
Witnesses told the police that it was rare for Desi to go into the deeper water. They said three of the four teachers were sitting next to each other on the edge of the pool during the session, on the north side of the shallow end, close to the stairs where Desi normally stayed. The other teacher was stationed on the south side of the shallow end. Desi was found on the southeast corner of the L-shaped pool, along the south wall.
There was a rope separating the shallow end, with a maximum depth of 3 feet, from the next section, with water 4 to 5 feet deep. Desi was not allowed to cross that rope.
Allen said Desi was not wearing any floatation device, nor was there any rule that nonswimmers should do so.
Allen said he returned to the pool two days after the incident. On a sunny day, with conditions similar to those of the day of the drowning, he observed that he could not see anything below the depth of swimming trunks on people standing in that area.
“I could not see the bottom of the pool,” Allen said. “There is a dark shadow that was along the bottom of the pool in that area.”
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which licenses and regulates day care centers, has launched an investigation into Desi’s death.”

Inquest reveals shadows at pool may have prevented lifeguards from seeing boy who drowned
[Herald & Review 8/18/11 by Huey Freeman]

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