Dad charged after he left kids unattended while he rode coasters
An Ohio dad faces a child endangerment charge after he allegedly left his 8-yearold daughter in charge of watching her 2- and 4-yearold siblings while he rode roller coasters at Cedar Point with another daughter.
Sandusky Police say a parkgoer alerted Cedar Point security around 9 p.m. Friday that a 2-yearold girl was “playing in the dirt” by the Magnum roller coaster with no parents in sight.
Police say park security took the young girl to an unattended wagon with a 4-year-old girl inside that was spotted near the Corkscrew roller coaster.
Security, according to the police report, waited some 20 minutes before the father, a 36-year-old from Seneca County, returned with his 9-year-old daughter after riding the Corkscrew. The Beacon Journal is not publishing the name of the father to shield the identity of the minor children.
The father told officers that he left the children with another daughter, 8, who was supposed to look after them while he rode the coaster with the 9-year-old.
“He advised that he was only in line for only a couple of minutes and then returned to his children,” the police report states. “It should be noted that the ride was shut down during this time for at least 20 minutes while (the father) was waiting in line.”
The father admitted to officers, according to the police report, that he also left the 8-year-old in charge while he and his 9-year-old daughter rode the Gatekeeper roller coaster earlier in the day but “he could see his other three children while he was in line.”