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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 11, 2004 Toddler’s drowning investigated Four-year-old brother placed in foster care while authorities sort out events leading to swimming pool death By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune The drowning of a 2-year-old boy remains under police investigation while his older brother has been placed in foster care. Detectives, prosecutors and child welfare workers Friday examined the Sept. 3 death of Stephen Randolph Horvath at his Sams Valley home. Paramedics were unable to resuscitate the boy after he was found floating face-up in a partially drained above-ground swimming pool on the property. He was pronounced dead at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Stephen and his 4-year-old brother had been playing outside unsupervised for about an hour prior to his drowning, said Detective Colin Fagan of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Small hand prints left in algae along the pool’s vinyl edge .showed Stephen’s struggle. But the pool’s slope and slipperiness likely prevented the toddler from standing up in the approximately 2 feet of water in which he drowned, police and fire officials said. The 4-year-old boy said he tried to get an adult’s help while his brother struggled in the pool, but he was told to stay outside, Fagan said. The boy has since been removed from his mother’s home and placed in foster care, Fagan added. No charges have been filed against the boy’s mother, 25-year-old Crystal Delap, or her boyfriend, 52-year-old Steven John Hunt. Criminal charges could range from misdemeanor child neglect to criminally negligent homicide, Fagan said. Advertisement The death of another of Delap’s children — ruled accidental earlier this year — was discussed in further detail Friday, Fagan said. "In six months, she’s had two children die," Fagan said. A victim of either sudden infant death syndrome or suffocation, Delap’s infant daughter died while sleeping with her mother, said Beth Heckert, chief deputy district attorney for Jackson County. Heckert said she couldn’t say if the previous fatality would have any effect on her consideration of Stephen’s drowning, adding that the two circumstances don’t have much in common. Allegations of menacing against Hunt also have surfaced. Stephen’s father, 31-year-old Edward Horvath, of Chiloquin, told Medford police Wednesday that while he was sitting on the steps of the old County Courthouse on Oakdale Avenue in Medford, Hunt flashed something "reflective" at him. He said he believed the object might have been a gun, said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran. Hunt did hold a permit to carry a concealed handgun, but that has been suspended while another menacing case is pending in court, Moran said. Hunt told officers he didn’t have a gun. That case has been referred to the office of the city attorney. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s