The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two indicted in boy’s drowning at day camp
A Fulton County grand jury indicted two people Tuesday nearly nine months after a 5-year-old boy drowned while attending a nature center day camp. And the boy’s parents said those indictments send a strong message to other child-care providers.
“If you say you are going to watch a child, that is your main duty, to not take your eyes off of those children,” Ayisat Idris-Hosch, the boy’s mother, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Benjamin “Kamau” Hosch III died July 21 after being pulled from the water at Cochran Mill Nature Center in south Fulton. Kamau was attending the final day of Camp Cricket summer day camp when he disappeared after lunch. The 13 campers in his group had been allowed to splash in shallow water, according to investigators. But Kamau somehow wandered away unnoticed by the four adults with his group.
He was pulled unresponsive from the water and later died at the hospital.
Terri Clark, the camp director, was indicted on one count of involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor reckless conduct charge, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said. The nature center’s director, Maribeth Wansley, faces one misdemeanor count of operating an early childhood learning center without a license.
In the days following the boy’s death, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning determined the camp was not licensed and shut it down. Georgia law allows for a child care service to file for exemption from state licensing requirements based on the ages of children, duration of the program, hours of operation, specific activities, or when services are offered free of charge, a DECAL spokesman previously said. Camp Cricket had not applied for exempt status from the state.
The camp also did not have a business license to operate, according to Chris Stewart, the Hosch family’s attorney. At the time of the accident, both the Chattahoochee Hills mayor and the city attorney served on the board of directors for the camp. Although the nature center is a nonprofit, the camp charged a fee of $120 to attend, meaning it was making a profit and therefore required a license to operate, Stewart said.
On Tuesday, Stewart said the district attorney’s office completed a thorough investigation and said the charges were warranted.
“We all agree, just like the community did, that an apology was not enough,” Stewart told The AJC.
Kamau would have turned 6 years old April 28.
“It’s heartbreaking,” IdrisHosch said. “My heart is broken, my husband’s heart is broken. We had dreams. We had all of these different ideas and dreams we were going to do with our children. It was taken from us because someone decided to not do their job.”