Mom Accused of Leaving Infant in Bathtub at SFO-Area Hotel During Sex Pleads No Contest to Felony Child Endangerment

A mother pleaded no contest Monday to felony child endangerment in a case where San Mateo County prosecutors allege that her 10-month-old child had to be resuscitated after being left unsupervised in a bathtub during sexual activity.

Paramedics were called to the Comfort Inn & Suites in South San Francisco on Sept. 3. They revived the child, who had been found unconscious in the bath water.

Investigators determined that 21-year-old Mindy Trinh and her co-defendant Charlie Her, 29, had left the infant and another 3-year-old child in the bathroom alone while the defendants engaged in "sexual conduct."

Prosecutors said the defendants also lied about the sequence of events that led to the baby's resuscitation, and how long the two children were left unsupervised.

Trinh faces no more than one year in county jail, and the judge may consider reducing the charge to a misdemeanor at the time of sentencing.

If so, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe says prosecutors will oppose it.

"This was potentially fatal," Wagstaffe said. "Studies show that an infant can drown in an inch of water."

"This was a total dereliction of responsibility, that's why we believe she should be a felon," Wagstaffe said.

Her, Trinh's co-defendant, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor resisting arrest on Dec. 20. He was put on one year of probation and sentenced to nine days in county jail, with nine days credit for time served.

Lisa Maguire, defense attorney for Trinh, could not immediately be reached for comment.

– By Bay City News Service / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone