WESTBROOK (AP) – The state agency investigating the drowning of a 3-year-old boy in a swimming pool at a child care center in Westbrook said Wednesday that the center and its swim instructor were both neglectful.

The victim, Andrew Thurston, had been taking part in a lesson at Koala Child Kare with other 3- to 4-year-olds on March 26 and was discovered face down in a 3-foot-deep section of the pool.

In announcing its findings, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services said instructor Patricia Lobley of Westbrook allowed the children to play in the water without personal flotation devices after the lesson was over.

Investigators said Lobley lost track of Andrew, a “non-swimmer,” while she was watching the four other children in the pool and that he had been face down in the water for several minutes.

DHHS also said parents were given printed materials stating that the center had a Red Cross certified swim instructor but that Lobley was last certified in 1978.

The department was forwarding its report to the Attorney General’s Office, which will be launching its own investigation.

The center’s operator, Kimberly Cairnes, said Lobley was certified in first-aid and CPR. Cairnes said the pool has been closed.