PORTLAND – A woman who allowed a child under her supervision to drown in a day care swimming pool in Maine was fined Tuesday. Patricia Lobley, 63, of Westbrook was ordered to pay the maximum $2,000 fine under a plea agreement in which she was spared from jail. Assistant Attorney General William Stokes said the family and prosecutors agreed that “it would serve no purpose to lock her up in a jail cell.”

The drowning happened during a swimming lesson for 3- to 4-year-olds in March 2007 at Koala Child Kare. Both Lobley and the child care center were found to be negligent by the state, and the child care owner has since hired an outside company to run its swim lessons.