Posted on Wed, Oct. 14, 2009
A Bucks County day care provider who caused the death of a 2-year-old boy by leaving him locked in her van all day in July was ordered today held for trial on involuntary manslaughter and other charges.
Rimma Shvartsman, 47, of Northampton Township, is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 13 in Bucks County Court. The charges stem from the July 1 hyperthermia death of Daniel Slutsky, whose parents were Shvartsman's neighbors.
Almost an hour after the toddler was found inside Shvartsman's minivan, his core body temperature still was more than 108 degrees.
Shvartsman is an owner of the Fairy Tales Day Care Center in Penndel. She often would drive Daniel to the center in her van as a favor to his parents, prosecutors say. On July 1, she had forgotten him after parking the van and had proceeded into the center. Not until late afternoon - on a day when temperatures hit the mid-80s - did she open the van and realize her mistake.
Shvartsman's lawyer argued that forgetting the child was a tragic mistake, but not a criminal act. He unsuccessfully tried to call an expert witness on memory issues at today's preliminary hearing, but was denied by Magisterial District Judge Daniel Baranoski, who said such testimony is more appropriate during a trial.
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