Toddler drowns in church baptistry

[RosyDaisy]

http://whnt.com/2014/09/19/decatur-police-toddler-falls-into-church-baptistery-drowns/

This is so sad. It also begs some question. Where were the adults? Why was the baptistery pool not secured? Why was a toddler there that time of night (friends tell me there were no events or revivals at the church tonight, not sure on that though). I don't think the baby was being baptized. Pentecostals practice baptism by immersion by believers, not babies and young children. So, what the hell happened here? This happened about 2 hours ago. Police are still investigating, so nobody really knows and no other details have been released.

Rest in peace little angel.

[DGayle]

The lack of supervision, no one noticing a toddler missing, no one hearing a kid splashing, it sounds suspicious.

[uber frau]

I'm, sadly it doesn't.

And most of the time children don't splash when they fall in the water. They're silent. Most of the splashing in those situations is the other ppl freaking out and trying to drag them out to safety.

I've seen children go under within arms reach and if I hadn't been looking directly at them, I could have not noticed.

[RosyDaisy]

A friend of mine has confirmed that the baptistery pool was in a separate room in the church and according to her sources, it was was kept locked.

There's a lot of chatter about this on local news Facebook pages, but all they amount to are pointing fingers at the parents and the church staff.

I think it's pretty clear at this point all are to blame. But, since the investigation is ongoing, who knows what the truth really is.

[alba]

Do Pentecostals practice immersion baptism? The baptismal fonts I've always seen for non-immersion baptism are filled before performing the baptism and emptied afterwards.

So, so sad.

[Trynn]

Why was the baptistery full if no one was there? At all churches I've been to, the baptistery is filled the morning of the dunking, then emptied after the service.

Why would you keep a baptistery full? Think of all the bugs that could get in there.... Stagnant water, yuck

[WifeofBill]

I'm not sure how their baptistry was set up, but we attended a church where the baptism pool was always filled, it was in the lobby and fed out to an outdoor fountain and small waterfall.

[BrownieMomma]

Ultimately the care of the child is the responsibility of the parents.

Almost every church I've ever been in fills the baptistry prior to the baptism and empties it afterwards.

Is there a suggestion this wasn't an accident? :(

[TXGirlInAMaterialWorld]

Oh that is very sad! I do feel awful for the family and hope that other churches will do more to secure their baptistry areas.

[whoviana]

Hasn't it occurred to anyone that this is some sort of a freaking cult and this was no accident at all? There's nothing new about cults practicing rituals like this, these kind of rituals reach back all the way to the dawning of "humanity". I know it sounds extreme but nothing about this sounds like an accident.

[busdrivingmom]

Our Catholic church has a baptism fountain in the church, towards the back. I do occasionally see a small child splashing in it, but usually a parent or sibling gets the kid away and diverts them to something else. Its a matter of paying attention to your kids and what they are doing.

Also, our church is locked except during mass because of previous thefts.

[DGayle]

I'm, sadly it doesn't.

And most of the time children don't splash when they fall in the water. They're silent. Most of the splashing in those situations is the other ppl freaking out and trying to drag them out to safety.

I've seen children go under within arms reach and if I hadn't been looking directly at them, I could have not noticed.

The boy either got in very quietly, or he fell in, which makes a splash that no one heard. How many toddlers get in slowly instead of jumping in enthusiastically? If he fell, that would cause a splash too. When someone's silent and not splashing, they were already in the water. Getting in has sound unless you are slow about it.

[Jana814]

What a sad story!!

[whoviana]

Yeah. And suspicious, too. No one checks on these mother loving cults and sects all over the country.

[Arete]

Don't be so sure. There was a tragedy in our community about three years ago when a toddler drowned in the family pool. He was less than 20 feet from his mother, and had wandered back after everyone had finished swimming. These accidents can happen very quickly and quietly. It's a horror.

[Evangeline]

Here's some more information about the drowning. It was an accident. His teen sister was supposed to be watching him and lost track of him. No foul play is suspected.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index ... rs_to.html

[DGayle]

Wait a sec--that pool is supposed to be in a locked area.

[BrownieMomma]

omg how awful

[RosyDaisy]

Yes, most Pentecostals baptize by immersion. They do not baptize babies. My source was wrong about no meeting being held. There was a missionary group meeting there. Interestingly the al.com article didn't mention whether or not the baptistry was locked.

The article also stated that that the mother only had 3 kids, so the family wasn't quiverfull, and the church is not a cult but probably fundie. This was a tragic accident unless the autopsy or other facts/evidence proves otherwise.

The little boy's sister probably turned her back for just a second, and that's when he fell into the baptismal pool. It was an actual baptismal pool with a filtration system kind of like a swimming pool.

[divadivine]

The same thing happened to a little boy here in Indianapolis. He went to a church daycare in a baptist church. Church daycare facilities do not have to be regulated like other facilities... Let's just say Indiana is ass backwards. Anyhow, too many children & not enough adults in the room, the little boy walked out of the room & right to the baptistery down the hall. They only realized he was gone when the speech teacher from the early intervention program came to provide services for him. The dad got there as the ambulance was leaving.... He had no idea it was his child. The daycare wasn't cited for anything because it's considered a ministry. The family attended the same parish I do and the funeral was held in our parish. Sad, sad, sad. My friend played for the funeral & it really tore her up because he was the same age as her niece.

Dad went on local TV sometime last year talking about the lack of oversight when it comes to daycare facilities in churches. He said if he had known the daycare wasn't watching his child the way he expected, he wouldn't have entrusted them with the little boy.

[Evil Feminist]

The same thing happened to a little boy here in Indianapolis. He went to a church daycare in a baptist church. Church daycare facilities do not have to be regulated like other facilities... Let's just say Indiana is ass backwards. Anyhow, too many children & not enough adults in the room, the little boy walked out of the room & right to the baptistery down the hall. They only realized he was gone when the speech teacher from the early intervention program came to provide services for him. The dad got there as the ambulance was leaving.... He had no idea it was his child. The daycare wasn't cited for anything because it's considered a ministry. The family attended the same parish I do and the funeral was held in our parish. Sad, sad, sad. My friend played for the funeral & it really tore her up because he was the same age as her niece.

Dad went on local TV sometime last year talking about the lack of oversight when it comes to daycare facilities in churches. He said if he had known the daycare wasn't watching his child the way he expected, he wouldn't have entrusted them with the little boy.

OMG! I never thought about that. But I could see how that's possible. My husbands church has a preschool program and a filled baptistry. They have to keep it full all the time because they are Church of Christ, so when someone wants to be saved, they have to be dunked immediately. The water is filtered, heated and tested like you would for maintaining a swimming pool, so not too gross. But I'm sure the doors to it lock.

I could totally see a little kid wandering off and checking out the 'pool'. Sounds like something I would have done. I was one of those kids who had no fear of water, and almost drowned trying to cross a full irrigation ditch... my mom caught me just in time!

[alba]

Here's some more information about the drowning. It was an accident. His teen sister was supposed to be watching him and lost track of him. No foul play is suspected.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index ... rs_to.html

That poor girl :( Can you imagine the guilt she must be feeling?

[church_of_dog]

That poor girl :( Can you imagine the guilt she must be feeling?

When my brother died in a bicycle accident back in the 70s, I was sixteen that summer and had just gotten my driver's license. Earlier that day I had offered to take him and his friend out for ice cream, but they wanted to go ride their bikes instead. After the accident, I felt guilty for a time, thinking "why didn't I insist that they come with me instead?" even knowing that I was not at fault, and it didn't even make sense that I should have 'insisted' -- it's just natural for people to think of scenarios that would have prevented the accident and then feel guilty (for a time, not forever) for not causing one of those alternate scenarios. I can't imagine how much worse it would be for someone who was actually charged with keeping someone safe, and then have something like this happen. I wonder sometimes about the woman who was driving the car that hit my brother -- she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol or anything, just had a careless moment that any of us could easily do. I feel for anyone who has to process that kind of guilt and I hope that it didn't cause her to mess up the rest of her life in an attempt to ease that pain.

[Pammy]

I don't post often (especially after I was shamefully supportive in the RR situation) but I read a lot, and I wanted to thank you for this article. I just went to church, checked whether or not our baptismal can be child-secured when full. It can't be. But it will be by next week. It's an easy fix, but it may never have happened without you.

[Evangeline]

I don't post often (especially after I was shamefully supportive in the RR situation) but I read a lot, and I wanted to thank you for this article. I just went to church, checked whether or not our baptismal can be child-secured when full. It can't be. But it will be by next week. It's an easy fix, but it may never have happened without you.

I don't actually know whether ours has a locking door, but I just emailed our children's minister to find out. It's not something that ever occurred to me, and I'm slightly obsessive about drowning prevention. I hope this saves some young lives.