This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Salt Lake City man is accused of allowing his 3-year-old daughter to play at the Fairmont Park duck pond while he was passed out drunk next to her stroller.
In charges filed Wednesday, investigators wrote that a passerby saw the girl playing next to the pond, near 2400 South and 900 East, and took her to a nearby bank to call police.
The man, 44, who smelled strongly of alcohol, woke up after officers arrived, police wrote. He said he had been drinking while his daughter was feeding the ducks, police wrote.
A child health expert said the girl was too young developmentally to be able to care for herself and likely could not know the dangers of water, "creating an extreme risk of drowning," police wrote.
The man was charged with neglect of a disabled child, a third-degree felony, and misdemeanor intoxication.
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