Dad arrested after kids wander to nearby pool

BY KEITH EPPS

A Stafford County man was charged with felony child neglect Wednesday after his two small sons wandered off to a nearby pool while he was sleeping, police said.

Sheriff’s spokesman Bill Kennedy said the boys, ages 3 and 1, showed up at a pool near their home on Excalibur Circle in the Manor of England Run about 11:15 a.m. The 1-year-old had on a diaper and the older boy was completely naked.

The attendant reported that the older child ran around the pool before getting in while the younger one ran around a fence surrounding the pool.

The attendant immediately rounded up the unsupervised children and called the apartment manager, who took the boys back to their home.

Kennedy said that when the manager opened the door to the residence, she saw the children’s father sleeping on a couch. She woke him up and turned the children over to him.

Deputy Kevin Kortman showed up at the residence a short time later to discuss the incident. The father told Kortman that he was taking a shower when the children got loose, but Kennedy said police determined that he’d actually been sleeping.

David Brian Layton Jr., 28, was arrested and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under a $3,000 bond. The children’s mother was called and the boys were turned over to her.

It was the third time in about a month that straying children in the England Run area led to the arrests of the people who were supposed to be watching them.

In late May, three children ages 7, 6 and 4 were found about a mile from their home.

Less than a week later, a 2-year-old boy showed up unattended at the England Run branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library.

None of the children was harmed.

Keith Epps:  540/374-5404

kepps@freelancestar.com

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