B.C. to investigate prosecution's conduct during trial of babysitter convicted in toddler's drowning

B.C. has appointed a special prosecutor to re-examine the conduct of prosecutors during the trial of a babysitter who was convicted of criminal negligence in the death of a toddler in Cranbrook, B.C., in 2011.

Tammy Bouvette, then 28, was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to criminal negligence causing death in 2013. Nineteen-month-old Iyanna Teeple was in Bouvette's care when the toddler was found face down in a bathtub on May 26, 2011. 

On Thursday, the B.C. Prosecution Service announced a special prosecutor had been appointed to conduct an independent review of the Crown's conduct during the case. 

A statement said the special prosecutor, Marilyn Sanford, was appointed after reporters asked about "disclosure issues involving the pathologist on the case."

The service did not provide further information on the nature of the issues.

During her trial, Bouvette told the court she gave Teeple a bath to soothe the child after she fell face down out of a booster seat. The babysitter, who has four children of her own, said she left the room for five minutes and returned to find the child face down, unconscious, in the tub.

The mother of the child was a friend of Bouvette's. The babysitter was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was downgraded after she pleaded guilty.

At sentencing, the judge noted Bouvette was remorseful and the mother of the baby did not blame Bouvette or seek any kind of revenge. The sentence meant Bouvette would only spend about six months in jail because of time already served.