Foster mom left boys unattended while she gambled

[Hum]

A Tickfaw woman left her three foster children outside for more than 40 minutes on Christmas Eve while she played blackjack inside the Treasure Chest casino, Kenner police said. They booked Katrular Buchanon, 36, with child desertion.

A passerby told officer Michael Lacrouts, who was patrolling Laketown, that a woman had dropped off two children at a play park at the Williams Boulevard boat launch about 10:43 a.m. Those children are ages 7 and 4, according to a police report said.

The bystander said the woman then parked her vehicle leaving a another child in the back seat. That boy is 9.

She walked about 200 yards to the Treasure Chest, the report said.

Lacrouts said he found Buchanon gambling at a blackjack table. She told him her 17-year-old son was watching the children and that she had been inside for five minutes, according to the report. But she later admitted she made up the story about the teenager, and video surveillance shows she was in the casino for more than 40 minutes, the police report said.

The children had no jackets or coats although the outside temperature was 53 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of 50, the police report said. The play park is not fenced and is located next to Lake Pontchartrain.

Buchanon was arrested on Saturday and released Christmas day on $1,500 commercial bond, said Sgt. Brian McGregor, Police Department spokesman. When reached Wednesday by phone, Buchanon hung up on a reporter.

The three children are brothers, according to a police report. They were placed in protective custody and released to the state Office of Child Services, McGregor said.

source

[_neutrino Veteran]

Perhaps she was trying to get money for a drug habit as well lol who knows. or just an addict for gambling.

[still1]

People like this need to just die...

[FMH]

Perhaps she was trying to get money for a drug habit as well lol who knows. or just an addict for gambling.

Gambling addict seems the most obvious reason to me.

[Phouchg]

Remove foster care rights at once!

[Hum]

The children had no jackets or coats ...

Maybe she was trying to win money for coats.

[Phouchg]

Would have been quicker to ask Nigerian bankers for some dough then.

[DocM]

Go directly to jail, and earn some money by getting a real job instead of living off state aid for taking care of fosters.

[jwjw1]

Maybe she was trying to win money for coats.

...with that foster care check she received... :whistle:

[jakem1]

Remove foster care rights at once!

It probably makes more sense to do something about gambling as this is a widespread problem. I was in a pub in Australia earlier in the year that had signs in the carpark reminding gamblers not to leave their children in the car :(

[Charisma Veteran]

People like this need to just die...

Or at least not be raising foster children.

[jwjw1]

Remove foster care rights at once!

It probably makes more sense to do something about gambling as this is a widespread problem. I was in a pub in Australia earlier in the year that had signs in the carpark reminding gamblers not to leave their children in the car :(

I'm not sure if you're referring to 'addiction' or Gambling in General...because leaving children alone in cars isn't a Gambling issue...its a 'responsibility' issue. If she took in the kids to receive a 'foster care check' to support a addiction..then the kids don't need to be in her care until she gets help....sad for the kids all around.

[jakem1]

I'm not sure if you're referring to 'addiction' or Gambling in General...because leaving children alone in cars isn't a Gambling issue...its a 'responsibility' issue. If she took in the kids to receive a 'foster care check' to support a addiction..then the kids don't need to be in her care until she gets help....sad for the kids all around.

Leaving children in cars is a gambling addiction problem, not a responsibility problem.

[Hum]

^ I hope no one believes that all 'gambling' is an addiction. :laugh:

[Phouchg]

Posting on Neowin is an addiction :( Good that I don't have children, who knows what would happen to them while I'm busy with it.

[Hum]

Posting on Neowin is an addiction :( Good that I don't have children, who knows what would happen to them while I'm busy with it.

^ Just leave them with a bowl of food and water. :laugh:

[jwjw1]

Leaving children in cars is a gambling addiction problem, not a responsibility problem.

:rolleyes:

so all the kids left in cars at malls are due to a shopping addiction and not 'responibilty'....and NO ONE is accountable for 'Responiblity' if they have some sort of addiction....LOL!

I will agree that an addiction will make you more lacks to being responible but it doesn't under no circumstances give you immunity from it....perhaps there are people who just don't want responibilty at all and continue to play the 'victim' in hope's that society will take care of them for life.

[jakem1]

:rolleyes:

so all the kids left in cars at malls are due to a shopping addiction and not 'responibilty'....and NO ONE is accountable for 'Responiblity' if they have some sort of addiction....LOL!

No, obviously I meant only in this context :) Gambling addiction can be as serious as any drug addiction and can lead to serious misjudgement or miscalculation.

Problem gamblers also tend to lose track of time (this is often caused by the deliberate lack of clocks and windows in casinos and clubs) so a gambler who thought it might be safe to leave her kids in the car for a few minutes while she went in for a quick flutter might end up leaving the kids alone for a dangerously long period of time by accident.

[bjoswald]

That's the problem with foster care: sometimes the kids end up with people worse than the biological parents. However, for some reason, my gut tells me this chick got caught up in the moment and didn't intend to abandon them. But who knows anymore? People are going more and more insane daily.

[ILikeTobacco]

Problem gamblers also tend to lose track of time (this is often caused by the deliberate lack of clocks and windows in casinos and clubs) so a gambler who thought it might be safe to leave her kids in the car for a few minutes while she went in for a quick flutter might end up leaving the kids alone for a dangerously long period of time by accident.

You would think that practice would be illegal as it could be considered abusive to people with gambling problems.

[jwjw1]

No, obviously I meant only in this context :) Gambling addiction can be as serious as any drug addiction and can lead to serious misjudgement or miscalculation.

Problem gamblers also tend to lose track of time (this is often caused by the deliberate lack of clocks and windows in casinos and clubs) so a gambler who thought it might be safe to leave her kids in the car for a few minutes while she went in for a quick flutter might end up leaving the kids alone for a dangerously long period of time by accident.

I understand the concept your trying to get across...but as for you example above..wouldn't it be responbile to wear a watch..I'm sure this isn't the first time he/she noticed no clocks in a casino and maybe left the kids in the car. I don't leave my kids in a car but I do wear a watch to the casino's...I learned that while living in Las Vegas to wear a watch....I even have responsible people today ask me what time it is at the casino. :D

[jakem1]

I understand the concept your trying to get across...but as for you example above..wouldn't it be responbile to wear a watch..I'm sure this isn't the first time he/she noticed no clocks in a casino and maybe left the kids in the car. I don't leave my kids in a car but I do wear a watch to the casino's...I learned that while living in Las Vegas to wear a watch....I even have responsible people today ask me what time it is at the casino. :D

The problem isn't solved by simply wearing a watch. The loss of time is a symptom of the addiction that's merely exacerbated by the lack of obvious time indicators, not caused by it. I'm sure most problem gamblers have watches or phones with clocks on them but they're too caught up in their gambling to remember to check the time. A gambler's ability to act responsibility is diminished by their addiction.

I'm not trying to make excuses for this woman and she really should have avoided placing her children in this situation. However, casinos and other clubs need to be held responsible too because they knowingly encourage addicts so they can make a profit off them.

[Hum]

I think foster mom should have left the kids with a roll of quarters, at the slot machines. :laugh:

[MidnightDevil]

I lock my wife in the toilet when I',m neowin.

Back on this, is both a gambling issue and a responsability issue.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I used to date a girl who had a 5 year old kid. She came over one afternoon/early evening. We had a coffee, chatted, watched TV and then I was like "Wait, hold up, where's *********?", "Oh she's in the car". She'd been round mine for like 40 mins at this point. It was around that time that I decided to end things.