Woman charged with leaving tot in hot car

In a tragedy that authorities deemed unintended yet criminal, a Bucks County day-care operator was charged yesterday in the July 1 death of a toddler locked for seven hours inside a sweltering minivan.

Rimma Shvartsman, 46, of Northampton Township, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, and leaving an unattended child in a motor vehicle in the death of 2-year-old Daniel Slutsky.

Shvartsman, a neighbor of the Slutsky family who had driven the boy to the day-care cebter that morning, found Daniel unconscious about 4:30 p.m. outside the Fairy Tales Day Care Center in Penndel. He had been locked in the van since 9:30 a.m., said Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry.

"Ultimately, leaving the child strapped into a car seat on a searing hot day for over seven hours amounts to criminal negligence," Henry said, "and the charges derive from that conduct."

Michael Mustokoff, an attorney for Shvartsman, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to charge Shvartsman, saying her error, while deadly, was not criminal.

"I'm not minimizing the tragedy," he said. "I'm only questioning whether a criminal act has occurred."

An attorney for the Slutsky family did not return a call seeking comment.

Shvartsman, co-owner of the day-care center, lived two doors away from the Slutskys and frequently drove Daniel to Fairy Tales. On July 1, Henry said, Shvartsman had arranged with the boy's father to do so.

"When she said yes, she took on that duty of care," Henry said. "A mere 15 minutes later, she locked the doors and left that child inside the van."

The boy was found on the floor of the van, indicating that he had freed himself from his car seat and was trying to get out, the district attorney said.

Authorities said Shvartsman had told them that she had been in a hurry to get inside and had forgotten the boy.

Mustokoff said it wasn't that simple.

Shvartsman, a cancer survivor, had just received some troubling preliminary test results and was distracted by worry, he said.

"Witnesses said she came into the day-care center trembling," Mustokoff said. "Within minutes, a crying child that could only be comforted by her was placed in her arms. Then she was trying to arrange to get her test results - all while this tragic human error was taking place."

At 3 p.m., Shvartsman and a co-owner left the facility in the co-owner's vehicle to purchase supplies. After returning, she was lifting the rear hatch of her van when she spotted Daniel inside.

The boy was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Even 45 minutes after being removed from the minivan, his core body temperature was 108 degrees, Henry said.

The child's parents have sued Shvartsman for civil negligence in Common Pleas Court.

After inspections prompted by the boy's death, the state Department of Public Welfare has been trying since early July to close the center for safety reasons. So far, state officials have been rebuffed in the courts, Mustokoff said.

In one ruling, he said, a Commonwealth Court judge called the death "a tragic and isolated incident."

Shvartsman was arraigned yesterday morning and released on $50,000 bail. No preliminary hearing date has been set.