The trial will begin on Monday, 8 February. We will return to the subject.

Let us recall. Three-and-a-half-year-old Kacper B. drowned on 27 April 2020 in the Kwisa River in Nowogrodziec. The District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra:

The extensive evidence collected during the investigation made it possible to charge the suspect under Article 160 §§ 1 and 2 of the Criminal Code. In particular, it was established that [...] on 27 April 2020 in Nowogrodziec—in breach of his duty to care for the minor, 3.5-year-old Kacper B.—he failed to perform the duties arising from that obligation by leaving a psychotropic substance in the form of methamphetamine in a place accessible to the minor, which resulted in him taking the substance in an amount that would have caused him to become intoxicated, and by leaving the child alone, without anyone’s care or supervision, near allotment gardens in a place located close to a steep embankment and the Kwisa River, thereby exposing the minor to a direct danger of loss of life or serious bodily harm; consequently, the child died by drowning.

At the same time, Rafał B. was under the influence of a substance acting similarly to alcohol, with amphetamine and methamphetamine in his blood.

Investigators add:

During the activities carried out, including the autopsy and subsequent histopathological and toxicological examinations of the child, it was established that the cause of death was drowning. It was also established that psychotropic substances in the form of methamphetamine were present in the child’s blood and stomach. According to experts, the substances had been taken orally by the child a relatively short time before his death, and he may have experienced psychophysical disturbances corresponding to a state following use of the substance. If the entire substance had been absorbed from the stomach into the blood—which did not occur because of the child’s death—it would have caused him to become intoxicated.

It should be noted that the same substance was detected in the suspect’s blood, and that he possessed it in the allotment gardens where he was staying with the child immediately before the child drowned.

B. faces a sentence of three months to as many as 5 years in prison.

In addition, the suspect was charged with driving a motor vehicle on 27 April while under the influence of a substance acting similarly to alcohol, and with supplying—at least six times—another person with psychotropic substances in the form of methamphetamine.

The suspect pleaded guilty to all charges.