No charges against mother whose son drowned in canal
By BREAKING NEWS BLOG
The Kern County District Attorney's Office has completed its review of a complaint request by the Kern County Sheriff's Department pertaining to an investigation of Yvette Valencia regarding the canal drowning of her 5-year-old son, Dominic Valencia, on June 21.
A requested felony charge of child abuse likely to produce great bodily harm or death will not be filed.
After a careful review of the evidence and reports, it was determined Valencia did not act with criminal negligence, which requires "more than ordinary carelessness, inattention or mistake in judgment." While the evidence suggested Valencia acted carelessly, that does not rise to the level of criminal negligence.
Additional factors considered in the decision were that Valencia did not have any criminal history, she did not have any prior CPS referrals and she tested negative for alcohol or drugs shortly after the incident.
Valencia made an unfortunate mistake in judgment that resulted in the tragic death of her son. However, this does not equate to criminal conduct.
-- Kern County District Attorney's office
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