A Georgia woman has appeared in court after leaving her three young children locked in a car overnight while she spent several hours playing poker at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, California.
BU DID SHE HAVE A WINNING SESSION https://t.co/7jlzI2tKqE
— Ryan Depaulo: Degenerate Gambler (@depaulo_ryan) July 20, 2022
DePaulo’s humorous “poker-centric” take on the incident belies the seriousness of 33-year-old Icese Laporsha Simmons actions last Monday night, which led to her children being handed over to social services.
Seminole tribal police officers were called to the third floor of the Lucky Street parking garage just before 3:30 a.m. after receiving a report of three children sleeping in a car.
Officers were with the children, aged 4, 10 and 12, when Simmons, of Albany, Georgia, returned to the vehicle just after 4am.
Prosecutors in Broward County told the court on Tuesday morning that Simmons had been playing poker for roughly three-and-a-half hours at the adjacent Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino poker room.
According to reports, Simmons faces three counts of child neglect and a judge ordered her to have no contact with her children. They are now under the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families, as per the arrest report.
Licensed nurse left 95-year-old in car while gambling
Although unusual, it is not the only case of neglect connected to casino visits, with another Seminole casino in Florida witnessing a case at the other end of the age scale some 10 years ago.
That incident resulted in 53-year-old caregiver Mary Holly charged with elderly neglect after she left her 95-year-old charge alone in a car for more than two hours while she gambled at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.
Holly, a licensed nurse who was already wanted by police on charges of exploitation of an elderly person and grand theft, fainted in court.
The elderly woman was unharmed by the ordeal, but the judge stated: “Had it not been for the good Samaritan, this could’ve been a whole different scenario.”
Five Kids left in Faeces-covered home while mum gambled for rent
In 2014, again in Florida, a mother of five was arrested for leaving her four children and one grandchild alone in their filthy, faeces-strewn home while she went to a local casino.
The children were found wandering outside begging for food as 34-year-old Crystal Hernandez gambled, police finding rotten food in the fridge and faeces on the kitchen counters.
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