Contractor Allegedly Knew About Pool Danger(6 Yr Old Died)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: ABC News

A Connecticut pool contractor who has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a young boy allegedly knew about construction code changes that very likely would have prevented the boy's death, according to an arrest affidavit.

John Romano, of the board of the Association of Pool and Spa Professional with Shoreline Pools President David Lionetti says that he and Lionetti discussed the code changes which included the installation of an anti-entrapment system at the pool's drain according to the affidavit. Romano, the President of All American Pools, says he and Lionetti spoke about the changes by phone in October 2005, the affidavit says. Six year-old Zachary Cohn drowned last summer in Greenwich, CT after becoming trapped by the suction of the drain in his family's pool, which Lionetti had installed the year before. The code changes required anti-entrapment devices to be installed on all pools constructed after 2004.

Lionetti was arraigned in Stamford Superior Court yesterday and the case has been continued to August 12th. Lionetti did not enter a plea.

Safety experts conclude that had a vacuum release system been installed in the pool, as was required by the code, belonging to the Brian and Karen Cohn, the suction of the pool pump would have broken and Zachary would have been able to swim away. Instead his parents struggled to free the boy from the drain before shutting power off to the pump and releasing him only after it was too late.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5474159&page=1

[onethatcares]

1. I took the CPO course this year and much of what the

instructor had to talk about dealt with entrapment issues. Little girls with long hair are a large part of the deaths. To think that someone skipped a code mandated system to save some money just doesn't make sense. What about the building inspector and the city? There is no reason to skimp when safety is an issue like this.

[janet118]

2. John Edwards represented the family of a child injured

in this type of accident. The injury was horrifying, but she lived. Her family was required to provided round the clock care for their little girl. He sued the company that made the drain and the installer and got them enough money to take care of her. Edwards writes about the case in Four Trials, one of the most readable of the books written by politicians.