MELBOURNE, Fla. – A topless babysitter found lying in a hotel parking lot faces charges after Melbourne police said she failed to watch over a 5-year-old boy whose mother had gone gambling.
Stacey Kerres, 47, of Fort Pierce, was charged with child neglect after Melbourne police were called to investigate reports of a child found alone for nearly an hour late Thursday in the River Palm Hotel, 420 S. Harbor City Blvd.
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Police talked to the child, who was sitting with the hotel staff playing a video game, told them his mother had gone to the "casino" and that she left him with a woman named Stacey. The child also indicated the woman was routinely put in charge of watching him, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.
Police searched the property and found Kerres, identified with a dagger and rose ankle tattoo, lying topless in the middle of the parking lot, not far from the room where the boy was staying, police reports show.
Kerres, who police said appeared lethargic and incoherent as she struggled to talk, managed to tell the patrol officers that the child's mother had gone gambling, adding, "I don't even know where (the boy) is right now," reports show.
Police booked Kerres into the Brevard County Jail Complex and searched unsuccessfully for the mother before turning the case over to the Department of Children and Families.
Kerres, ordered by a judge to have no further contact with the child pending the outcome of the case, will have a Sept. 18 hearing on the charges.