Another case of child endangerment was slapped against a father who left his 14-month old daughter alone  in his car for 30 minutes while gambling inside Harrington's casino, the police said last Tuesday.

The father, identified as Justin K. Middleton, 26, of Preston, Maryland was charged with multiple counts of violations by the police such as  reckless endangering, parking in a handicapped space, and unattended motor vehicle.

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Keith S. Whyte , director of a group known as National Council on Problem Gambling, said that abandonment of child at casinos by gambling parents is becoming rampant and has had deadly outcomes.

Whyte said gambling addicts tend to leave their children in the car for a 10-minute dash to the casino but five hours later, they are still there.

Whyte added that gamblers lose their sense of time and become obsessed and preoccupied while gambling resulting in  catastrophic consequences to their children and families.

Reports said the baby was found safe by police last Monday inside the car with the engine running outside the casino.

Reports said at about noon last Friday, the casino manager alerted the police about a baby in a car parked in the handicapped lane. The manager said a patron informed him about the baby left alone in a car seat inside a Ford Focus car

The manager paged the gamblers and 90 minutes after, Middleton was arrested in his car. Investigators viewed the casino's videos to determine how long the baby was alone inside the car.

Court records showed that the car seat was "in an upside down position on the floor behind the front passenger seat."

Police said a sweatshirt was covering the baby's lower body, and noted that the child could have been suffocated by the clothing material.

The police immediately opened the door which was not locked and retrieved the baby. The child did not appear to be suffering from distress that  needed medical attention at the time.

Tagscasino, gambling, child