A Philadelphia woman is facing child endangerment charges for allegedly leaving her two children inside her car while she gambled at the slot machines at Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa. earlier this month.

KYW’s Brad Segall reports that for the third time this summer, Bensalem (Bucks County) police have charged a parent with leaving a child inside a car while the parent spent time in the gaming hall.

Police say the latest incident was August 1st, when 35-year-old Sharon Balek left her 15-year-old and eight-year-old girls inside her car for nearly six hours while she played the slots.

Bensalem public safety director Fred Harran says she told police she simply lost track of time:

“You don’t know what these kids are thinking except for, ‘What kind of crazy parent do I have?’  These kids had waited, I guess, for almost six hours, waiting for mom to return.  And then finally they went in to try to get someone to help them find their mom.”

They finally called their dad, who came and got them. The kids were not injured. Court records reveal that video surveillance caught Balek gambling for more than five hours that night.

Officials say that this is actually the sixth time this summer that a parent has abandoned a child in the parking lot while gambling.  In three of those cases, however, the parent left the casino before police arrived and could not be located.

Bensalem authorities add that Parx casino officials have been cooperating fully with each investigation.

(File photo by KYW’s Mike DeNardo)