Keep kids at home: Presque Isle, other casinos combatting problem of unattended children
A man and a woman took a recent trip to Presque Isle Downs & Casino to try their luck on the slot machines.
The couple left five children — ages 2, 4, 5, 11 and 13 — in a vehicle in the casino's parking lot as they gambled inside the Summit Township facility for 35 minutes.
It's unknown whether the man and the woman were winners at the slots that day.
But they won't get the chance to try their luck again.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which oversees all aspects of gambling in the state including gambling at Pennsylvania's 17 casinos, on Wednesday approved a petition banning the man and woman from all state casinos for leaving the children unattended outside of Presque Isle Downs & Casino.
The board also banned three other adults, two men and a woman, from Pennsylvania casinos for similarly leaving children unattended in vehicles outside of gaming facilities in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre, according to a news release announcing the board's actions.
A woman who was previously banned from Pennsylvania casinos for leaving her 8- and 12-year-old daughters in a vehicle while she gambled for 45 minutes at a casino near Farmington sought to have her banning lifted, which the board denied at its Wednesday meeting.
A big and potentially dangerous problem
Leaving children unattended in parking lots, hotels, garages or other venues at a casino is prohibited because it creates a potentially unsafe and dangerous environment for the children, according to the board.
In one of three cases in which the board at its April meeting banned people from casinos for leaving children unattended, a woman was accused of leaving a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old at a food court at the Valley Forge Casino Resort in order to wager at the sports book. The woman then attempted to leave the children unattended in a vehicle in the casino's parking lot before she was approached by security, according to the board.
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Leaving children unattended outside casinos is also a big problem.
Between January 2022 and April 2023, the board said it identified 359 incidents at Pennsylvania casinos in which 576 minors were left unattended while adults gambled.
The board has banned 14 people from casinos for leaving children unattended outside facilities across the state so far this year, according to information in news releases issued after the board's monthly meetings. In another case involving Presque Isle Downs & Casino, the board in March banned a man accused of leaving a 12-year-old unattended in a running vehicle while the man wagered at the casino's sportsbook.
Officials at Presque Isle Downs, including a component of the Pennsylvania State Police that is based at the facility, said incidents of people leaving children unattended in vehicles outside of the Summit Township casino is uncommon, but does happen and those incidents are taken seriously.
Consequences of leaving kids behind
Presque Isle Downs spokeswoman Jennifer See said the casino utilizes all of its employees to be on the lookout for unattended children. Members of the casino's security and surveillance departments actively look for them, and they work in conjunction with Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Gaming troopers who are stationed at the facility, she said.
In addition to being banned from casinos, in which a person is placed on an involuntary exclusion list, an adult offender could face criminal charges, according to the Gaming Control Board.
Criminal matters at Presque Isle Downs that state police troopers typically deal with, based on news releases they regularly issue, include those involving lost or mislaid property; gaming vouchers or credits left on gaming machines that are taken by someone else; and people either involuntarily excluded or self-excluded from the casino caught gambling inside the facility or attempting to enter it.
In cases where someone leaves a child unattended, a person could face a summary traffic violation of leaving an unattended child in a motor vehicle if the child is under 6 years old, said Sgt. Chris Stafford, office commander for state police Bureau of Gaming Enforcement-Presque Isle Downs & Casino.
For more egregious offenses, which could include weather conditions, the age of the children and other factors, an offense could rise to the level of endangering the welfare of a child, Stafford said.
Educating gamblers
The Gaming Control Board has attempted to educate the public about the problem and to reduce incidents of children being left unattended through its "Don't Gamble with Kids" campaign.
At Presque Isle Downs, officials have been proactive in spreading the word that patrons cannot leave children unattended outside the facility, See said.
There are large banners on the building warning visitors that it is illegal to leave children unattended. There are similar messages at the casino's entrances, as well as pamphlets addressing the issue that are located throughout the property, See said.
Once an hour, an announcement is played inside the casino that addresses the ramifications of leaving a child alone in a vehicle, she said.
The recorded announcement that Presque Isle Downs officials made has been adopted by other casinos across Pennsylvania, See said.
"We're all working together to bring attention to this," she said.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Presque Isle, other casinos combat problem of children left unattended
