Attleboro Pool Where Boy Drowned Had Failed Inspection

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) -- The Massachusetts pool where a 4-year-old Rhode Island boy drowned failed a safety fence inspection nine years ago and never got a valid building permit.

An Attleboro building inspector said Friday that the pool has been in violation since 2002 and that the wooden fence that circles the Attleboro home's backyard does not separate the pool there from the house's rear door, as required by state building codes.

Building Inspector Doug Semple said neither the property owner nor the pool company that installed the pool ever fixed the fence problem.

Police said 4-year-old Matthew Torres of Central Falls, R.I., was pulled from an in-ground pool at the Attleboro home he was visiting this week. Authorities said the boy went missing when his mother had gone to run errands.

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