Three gambler parents banned from Pa. casinos

Three more parents who gambled their children's safety outside Bensalem's Parx Casino were reckoned with this week - one by a Bucks County Court judge, the others by state gaming officials.

On Thursday, Donald Waige of Philadelphia was placed on 18 months of probation for leaving his 15-month-old son in a car outside the casino in the summer while he gambled.

Also Thursday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board imposed lifetime casino bans on two other Philadelphia men who did likewise with their young children early in the year.

One was Fajiao Sun, 40, who was arrested Feb. 14. He was charged with endangering the welfare of a child after leaving his 10-year-old daughter in a vehicle outside Parx. The child was unattended for about 45 minutes while Sun played virtual blackjack.

In June, Sun was placed in a two-year pre-adjudication probation program.

Also banned by the gaming board was Xin Li, 47, who left two sons, 5 and 6, in a vehicle Feb. 14 while he played virtual blackjack for 45 minutes. He, too, was given two-year pre-adjudication probation.

If Sun and Li complete the probation programs without violations, they will not have criminal records. Their lifetime bans prohibit them from entering any casino in the state.

Waige's case was dealt with more severely by Judge Albert J. Cepparulo.

On June 15, Waige left his toddler son alone for close to an hour in his vehicle, its motor running. A police officer later described the child as terrified, "screaming and red in the face."

It was the first of eight incidents between June and October of adults leaving children in cars outside Parx. Two cases were not prosecuted, three drew probationary sentences, and three are pending.

Deputy District Attorney Maureen Spang said Waige "did not offer any explanation to the judge" for his actions, although his lawyer "did express that he was extremely remorseful, was taking parenting classes, and was seeing a therapist to make sure it did not happen again."

In addition to the 18 months of probation, Cepparulo also made mental-health care, the parenting classes, and a ban from the casinos conditions of the sentence.

The toddler is living with his mother, Spang said, and is no longer in Waige's custody.