The parents of a 3-year-old boy who drowned after being put in a pool without his floaties have slammed a Martha’s Vineyard country club.
The court heard how Henry Bowman Backer was left alone in the pool by a counselor at the Boathouse & Field Club even though he was not wearing his floaties.
By the time the counselor came back, the little boy had already drowned.
In a victim statement, grieving father Stephen Backer said: “We never saw our son’s eyes open again. He was already brain dead.
“We placed our vibrant, sweet, smart, loving boy in the care of The Field Club and they let him die.”
The general manager of the $100,000-a-year country club has pleaded guilty to the involuntary manslaughter of the young boy.
Boathouse & Field Club general manager Scott Anderson pleaded guilty to negligence, wanton and reckless conduct in Dukes County Superior Court in Massachusetts.
He told the court, as per The Boston Globe: “We had one responsibility as an organization on that day and that was to return Henry back to his family. … and we failed on every possible level.”
The club was placed on five years probation and was ordered to pay only $100,000 in restitution to the grieving family.
Henry’s parents said they will donate the money to a lifeguard training program named the Henry Bowman Backer Water Safety Training Fund on Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod.
“This is not the story of a tragic accident,” Stephen said. “This is a story of a crime.
“We are making this statement because the guilty party is a corporation and we can’t look a corporation in the eye.”
Members of the club pay $100,000 per year. Buying a home on the grounds comes with a club membership.
Hon. Mark Gildea, the judge in the case, said: “There is no sentence that can be imposed that can justify what has happened.”
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