A 22-year-old mother and her boyfriend face were arraigned Tuesday on charges alleging they left the woman’s 3-year-old son sleeping in a Fife motel room for several hours while they went gambling.
Sarah Huson was charged Monday with reckless endangerment, third-degree abandonment of a dependent person, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana possession.
Her boyfriend, 26-year-old Scott Weems, was charged with abandonment of a dependent person, use of drug paraphernalia and drug loitering.
Both entered not-guilty pleas during their arraignments in Fife Municipal Court. Huson was ordered held on $2,000 bail; Weems was held on $1,000 bail.
Fife police Lt. Tom Thompson gave this account:
The Lakewood couple checked into the motel with her son about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Hours later, after the boy fell asleep, the couple left the motel room, leaving the boy alone for what later was estimated to be 4 to 41/2 hours.
Huson told investigators the two walked to the Emerald Queen Casino to have some fun and gamble. Weems wasn’t let in at the door because he didn’t have the proper identification.
Huson told investigators she thought Weems returned to the motel room. She, meanwhile, got lucky on a slot machine and lost track of time, she said.
Weems returned to the motel about 5:30 a.m. but didn’t have the room key, so he went to the front desk for help. An employee wouldn’t give him a new key card because he wasn’t listed as the registered guest.
Weems then told the employee he needed to get into the room because Huson’s son was there by himself. The employee called police. Officers found the sleeping boy in the room. They enlisted the help of casino security to find Huson.
Through interviews with Weems and Huson, they unraveled the events of the night and Huson was taken to the Puyallup jail and Weems to the Fife jail. The boy was placed in state protective custody.
This isn’t the first time Fife police have arrested a mother and her boyfriend after they allegedly left a young child alone to gamble. Last June, a 22-year-old Lakebay woman was charged with leaving her 3-year-old daughter alone in a Fife motel so she could gamble with her boyfriend.
In that case, the girl was found crying and wandering the parking lot of a motel about 2 a.m. The mom and her boyfriend were arrested when they returned to their motel room more than three hours later.
Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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