A man and a woman were arrested and faced child neglect charges after allegedly leaving a 3-year-old in the kids club of an LA Fitness in Florida so that they could go drinking.
Thomas Kern, 57, and Rossana Alvarez, 40, were held in Palm Beach (FL) County Jail last week in lieu of $3,000 bail, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal reported.
It is not clear the relationship of Kern or Alvarez to the 3-year-old girl. Kern dropped the girl off at the LA Fitness in Palm Beach Gardens "with the intention of drinking," according to a police report. From the Sun-Sentinal:
The girl said she hadn't eaten all day and despite the gym's policy that kids can't be left at the "Klub" for more than 2 hours, or [the parents can't] leave the gym without the child, the girl's parents weren't around, according to the report. The employee told police the girl had been there for four hours and after trying numerous times to call the person who dropped the girl off, later identified as Kern, no one answered.
The girl eventually was picked up and was staying with a relative.
A spokesperson from LA Fitness, Irvine, CA, declined to comment about the incident to Club Industry.