Child safety topic of gaming industry seminar

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 3:21 a.m.

As Las Vegas continues to market itself toward family fun and entertainment, more and more the faces of visitors are those of children.

"As casinos become more family oriented and children become more common sights, so do adults who prey on children," says Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Allen was among a slate of speakers appearing Friday at the gaming industry's first seminar on "Policies and Procedures for Unattended and Missing/Exploited Children and Minors."

More than 200 executives, representatives and security personnel from Las Vegas and other gaming cities attended Friday's meeting at the MGM Grand hotel-casino.

"This is one of the safest industries in America," said Allen, whose organization recently helped the American Gaming Association develop guidelines in dealing with children in casinos. "However, because of the growing presence of kids there is some evidence kids are being harmed in greater numbers than we know about."

An AGA spokesman said there were no figures available on the frequency of children and minors being abducted or abused while at casinos, but the problem isn't believed to involve large numbers.

However, when an incident does happen, it gets widespread publicity.

For example, a year ago a 7-year-old girl was abducted, sexually assaulted, beaten and murdered in a Primm hotel-casino restroom.

About 3 million people a year, or 11 percent of Las Vegas visitors, bring their children -- almost twice the percentage of three years ago.

Despite the large numbers, Clark County authorities say they are asked just three to five times a month to pick up lost children at casinos.

Nevada law forbids children from loitering near gambling areas, yet the statutes remain silent on the level of casino supervision over these young guests.

Many casinos are taking steps to ensure children's safety such as making licensed child-care centers available.

But Allen warned that even the child-care centers could be dangerous, which is why it is important that casinos do a thorough background check on employees.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) have entered into a partnership to develop guidelines and training for the gaming industry.

The NCMEC provided a similar service to the medical profession several years ago because of an alarming increase in the number of infant abductions from hospitals.

Allen said the NCMEC trained some 45,000 hospital workers and as a result the rate of infant abductions from hospitals decreased by 85 percent.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the AGA, told those who attended the seminar everyone has the same goal, which is to safeguard children.

Noting that parents have the first and foremost responsibility for their children, he said it is nevertheless incumbent upon the industry to take whatever steps it can to help them.

"When they are on our premises we share in that responsibility," he said.

Fahrenkopf said that with more than 30 million visitors per year to Las Vegas and 35 million per year to Atlantic City, there is a practical limitation to what can be done.

"But we must try," he said.

Fahrenkopf said there was both a legal and moral responsibility to do so.

"We all must make it our job to make sure children are never unattended when on our premises," he said.

Allen said the well-trained security people who work in the gaming industry don't need as much training as other people do, but some education is required.

"If you don't know what to look for, you're not going to see it," he said.

One of the primary challenges is making parents more responsible for their children so they don't abandon their youngsters in bathrooms or hallways while gambling.

Communication is one way to approach the problem, he said.

"Tell people when they come into the facility what your expectations of them are," said Allen.

The guidelines that were adopted by the AGA board of directors for its members include:

-- posting local curfews and informing guests with children about the laws.

-- training employees to handle situations involving unattended children, underage gambling and alcohol and tobacco consumption.

-- remaining with unattended children while reasonable steps are taken to locate the parents or responsible adult. If an adult can't be found, then security should contact the appropriate third party, such as police or youth services.

Allen said issues that must concern the gaming industry include premises liability, duty of care and "foreseeability," whether the casino might reasonably have been able to foresee that an incident might take place.

Allen said the murder of the child in Primm last year may be pointed to in the future as a reason for another incident like that being foreseeable.

"There are more cases (of child molestation) than you know about," said Allen. "Only one in 10 of the cases are reported to police."

Allen said the offenders in hospital abduction cases generally are female, while those in casinos are men younger than 35 or those exhibiting a variety of deviant behaviors.

"They seek legitimate access to children," he said. "In very few instances are the children dragged off kicking and screaming."

There are a number of myths that Allen dispelled:

-- it is not true that mostly strangers abduct or molest children. According to Allen, two-thirds are not "strangers," because they have somehow managed to gain the child's trust.

-- most are not "dirty old men." Some 85 percent are younger than 35 and began molesting around the age of 15.

-- it is not true most are retarded. More than 80 percent are of normal or higher intelligence.

Allen said employees must be alert to suspicious behavior, document and record incidents, designate a staff person or people who have responsibility in abduction and molestation cases and notify police when there is reason to believe an abduction has taken place.

He also said companies need to do a risk assessment of their facilities and develop a critical incident response plan.

"The key is to make sure your people know what to do," he said.