Tarentum man faces child endangerment charge after pool accident

A Tarentum man whose 2-year-old daughter was found unresponsive in a home swimming pool last month faces a felony child endangerment charge.

William Richard Nulph, 35, told police he left the toddler unattended on a side deck where she had been playing March 14 so he could take his 8-month-old daughter inside to feed her, according to a criminal complaint.

Nulph told police the 2-year-old was gone when he returned. The complaint said Nulph said he found her floating in the swimming pool and pulled her out, started CPR and called 911. She was taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital and then flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital.

“William Nulph was adamant he was only in the house for 30 seconds, and I told him it was virtually impossible for (the toddler) to cover that much ground in such a short amount of time,” Allegheny County police Detective Mark Restori wrote in the complaint.

Police said Nulph told them the girl was not moving and he did not see any ripples in the water. Restori said he disturbed the water in the pool and it took about 45 seconds for the ripples to stop.

Restori described conditions at the Nulph home in the criminal complaint.

Among them, the detective said the fenced-in yard’s front gate was closed but left enough room for a small child to get through and the above-ground swimming pool had a gate around it but the latch could be easily opened. Steep steps leading up to the pool deck were not blocked, and water in the uncovered pool was green with algae, the complaint said.

Children’s toys, swings and garden tools were strewn about the backyard, and a steel railroad track weighing an estimated 80 pounds sat precariously on a block of wood there, the complaint said. Aluminum cans and lawn mowers were strewn around the pool, and numerous items were found on the ungated side porch, including hunting arrows with broadheads, the complaint said.

The girl survived the incident and has since fully recovered, Restori said Monday.

Nulph’s attorney, Leonard Berger Jr., said Monday he had no comment on the charges ahead of his client’s preliminary hearing.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 10 before District Judge Carolyn Bengel.