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PROVO, Utah (AP) -- A mother has been charged in the bathtub drowning of her 1-year-old son.
January Krebs, 28, of Provo has been charged in 4th District Court with reckless endangerment or negligent homicide.
She is accused of leaving the boy alone in the bathroom on Feb. 25.
Krebs left to get some towels out of the dryer and came back about five minutes later to find the child in the tub with his 2-year-old brother, who was the one she had put in the bath, said police Sgt. Reed Van Wagoner.
Krebs and her boyfriend called 911 and attempted to resuscitate him. The 2-year old was not injured, Van Wagoner said.
There is only one charge but two options -- negligent homicide or reckless endangerment. The options allow a potential jury more leeway in its decision.
Krebs is to appear in 4th District Court on July 18 at 8:30 a.m.
Van Wagoner estimated Provo police are called to two or three bathtub drownings a year.
There also are many cases a year in which the child is successfully resuscitated.
That happened again on Wednesday.
A Provo mother took her child out of the tub, put the child down and went to get something from the kitchen, Van Wagoner said.
She returned to find child in the bathtub. The parents were able to get the child breathing before paramedics arrived, Van Wagoner said.
"If parents just knew," Van Wagoner said. "They should drain the tub when nobody is in there. (There's) all kinds of safety issues. Some ... parents are plain just being naive. It's just a matter of educating them."
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Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
