Babysitter Charged In 7-Year-Old Girl's 2018 Drowning Death
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A woman has been charged in connection to the 2018 drowning death of a child she was babysitting.
Police filed charges Tuesday against 25-year-old Bhima Acharya.
Acharya was babysitting 7-year-old Jessica Basnet on July 19, 2018, when Basnet somehow got into a neighbor's above-ground pool and drowned.
Allegheny County Police say the neighbors who owned the pool were on vacation at the time and did not give anyone permission to use the pool while they were gone.
Police also say the ladder to the pool had been up or closed before the child got into the pool, but the ladder was down or open after Basnet was found unresponsive.
In 2018, Acharya said she went to use the bathroom while she was watching Basnet, and when she came out, the child was gone.
"I looked for her and I [didn't see] her, and then I saw her clothes outside on my swing. She changed her dress and she put a swimming suit," Acharya told KDKA News in 2018.
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At the time, Acharya said the neighbors failed to secure the pool.
"She's like my baby. I always used to care for her. I feel so nervous," Acharya said in 2018.
Acharya has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children. Acharya has been arrested and will be taken to the Allegheny County Jail to await arraignment.
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