Swim instructor charged in 4-year-old's drowning death in Burke County
The swim instructor at the center of a high-profile child drowning case in Burke County this summer is charged in the death of 4-year-old Israel "Izzy" Scott.
After months of silence, Augusta District Attorney Jared T. Williams recently announced his office's investigation led them to "conclude that a criminal offense has occurred in the death of Israel Scott," according to a news release.
Williams said he instructed the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to issue an arrest warrant for Scott's swim instructor, Lexie TenHuisen, 66, of Waynesville, North Carolina, on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
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The charge is a misdemeanor. Williams said the law and facts do not support a felony charge or lengthy prison sentence.
"After discussing this decision, both the family and the State of Georgia are in lockstep that the aim of this prosecution is not retribution, but accountability under the law," according to the release. "How could the law be so insufficient, placing no safeguards over the very people who are entrusted as lifeguards over our children?"
There are no laws in Georgia restricting or regulating lessons at residential pools and the pools themselves are not evaluated for safety by the Georgia Department of Public Health. In most instances, lessons held in public-use pools are also unregulated.
Lessons at YMCAs, recreation centers or even a swim instruction businesses are not mandated by state law to adhere to standards. The staff-to-student ratios and certifications those facilities tout come from swim and safety organizations like the American Red Cross and United States Swim School Association, but are not required under the law.
The day it happened
On June 14, the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and Burke County EMA responded to 113 Deer Run Rd., Hephzibah, for the possible drowning of a child. Scott, along with nine other children, were attending swimming lessons provided by TenHuisen.
Scott "got into the deep water of the pool undetected" and was eventually found by TenHuisen’s granddaughter after she went to remove the pool vacuum from the shallow end of the pool, according to Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams.
The 4-year-old was taken by ambulance to Burke Medical Center and then transferred to the Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta, where he later died.
The Augusta Chronicle reached out to TenHuisen for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Scott's mother, Dori, wrote on Facebook she finally feels justice has been served.
"After 6 months, we have some sort of accountability and acknowledgment that someone did wrong," Dori Scott wrote in a Facebook post. "It’s sad that it had to take this long to acknowledge the fact that you paid someone who had a business to teach your son to swim (after she stated that parents couldn’t stay) and you never got him back. As a mother in pain and heartbroken just this small step helps my heart a little because there was no type of accountability or apology for 6 months."
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Georgia swim instructor charged in drowning death of 4-year-old
