Deputies in Panama City are considering charging the parents of children who have recently drowned in rip currents amid double red flags.
WJHG reports the Bay County Sheriff’s Office is specifically looking at five drownings in the Panama City Beach area.
Deputies say in all cases, parents allowed their children to swim in the Gulf of Mexico despite double red flag warnings. Double-red flags mean you are not allowed in the Gulf.
The parents were fined $500 — but now they could also face child neglect charges.
Authorities say they don’t generally resort to such measures. But drownings have been such a problem in the area that they want to get the word out about how dangerous the water can be.
All but one of the five drownings involved families that were visiting from out of town.
“To me, it’s no different than having a fire inside of a house and allowing a kid to go over there who doesn’t know any danger to that fire,” Captain Jason Daffin with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office told WJHG News. “[It’s] letting them go over there and get themselves burned or leaving them home with a fire going and something bad happens. It’s the adult’s responsibility to protect their children.”
WEAR News recently reported that several people died in drowning at Panama City Beach and Walton County beaches in a single weekend.
Source : Weartv
