GRANTVILLE, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has fined the operator of Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course $40,000 for allowing minors to access the gaming floor and gamble, the Board announced Wednesday.
Mountainview Thoroughbred Racing Association LLC, which operates the Dauphin County casino, received the fine for allowing minors to gamble on three separate instances, the Board said in a press release.
A Delaware County slot machine manufacturer, Lightning Gaming Inc., was fined $5,000 for failing to notify the Board of a change in its financial status, the Board said.
The Board said it also acted on petitions filed by OEC to ban four adults from all casinos in the Commonwealth for leaving a total of six minors unattended in order to engage in gaming activities:
- A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 1-year-old child unattended in a locked vehicle with an outside temperature of 84 degrees in the parking lot of Valley Forge Casino Resort in Montgomery County for 9 minutes to gamble in the sportsbook and at a table game. Pennsylvania State Police broke a car window to extract the child and the patron later attempted to flee in the vehicle, which contained illegal drugs, until police detained and removed him;
- A male patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving two minors, aged 6 and 8, unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot of Live! Casino Pittsburgh in Westmoreland County for 13 minutes while he gambled at slot machines;
- A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving two minors, aged 10 and 13, unattended in a vehicle in the parking garage of Live! Casino Philadelphia for 24 minutes while she gambled at slot machines; and,
- A female patron was placed on the Involuntary Exclusion List after leaving a 13-year-old unattended in the Sky Bridge hallway of Mohegan Pennsylvania Casino for 10 minutes while she gambled at slot machines.
"The Board’s actions serve as a reminder that adults are prohibited from leaving minors unattended in the parking lot or garage, a hotel, or other venues at a casino since it creates a potentially unsafe and dangerous environment for the children," the Board said. "Leaving minors unattended at a Pennsylvania casino also subjects the offending adult to criminal prosecution in addition to exclusion from all Pennsylvania casinos."
