Drowning Prompts Surrender of Day-Care License

A day-care operator facing a disciplinary hearing after a toddler drowned in her pool in May has voluntarily surrendered her license, her attorney and state officials said Tuesday.

Jane Ann Siemer “feels very badly about the incident and she no longer wants to operate a day-care center,” said her lawyer, Robert Garretson. “The incident affected her very deeply.”

State investigators had accused Siemer of failing to adequately supervise the children in her care at the facility operated out of a three-bedroom home on Ale Lane.

Siemer could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

A license revocation hearing was scheduled to begin Tuesday, but Siemer withdrew her defense. Deputy Atty. Gen. Dan Garcia said the state will proceed with its revocation procedure.

If approved by the deputy director of the legal department at the state Department of Social Services, Siemer’s license will be revoked by the end of the week, Garcia said.

Siemer found 18-month-old Ariel Nicole Moon face down in her swimming pool after Siemer left the toddler sleeping on a couch for a few minutes, authorities said.

A dramatic 911 tape recording released after the May 6 incident showed that Siemer--although hysterical--tried to follow a dispatcher’s instructions to revive the comatose child.

After several attempts to keep Siemer focused on the resuscitation effort, Siemer screamed into the telephone: “Please Lord, let her live! Oh God, let my baby live! Man, I’m scared out of my mind.”

But 27 hours after the rescue attempt, the child showed no sign that she would regain consciousness and died after she was removed from life-support systems at Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange.

Siemer’s patio between the house and the pool was enclosed with a latticework barricade with “self-latching gates.” Garcia said he had intended to present evidence at the now-canceled license hearing that Siemer knew before the incident that the gate locks were not working.