A San Jose woman pleaded not guilty in Sonoma County Superior Court on Wednesday to two felony child endangerment charges alleging she left her two young children in a parked car while she visited the Graton Resort and Casino near Rohnert Park in June.
Maria Mondragon-Barboza, 37, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 4.The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office arrested her June 30 for misdemeanor child endangerment after a deputy saw a small child in the back seat of a Honda on the upper level of a parking structure at the casino.
The 10-year-old girl in the Honda told the deputy her mother left her to care for her 1-year-old brother while she went into the casino, sheriff's Sgt. Cecile Focha said.
The deputy contacted casino security and brought Mondragon-Barboza to the Honda in about 20 minutes, Focha said.
Mondragon-Barboza told the deputy she was going into the casino for only a few minutes and didn't want to bring the children because the infant was sleeping. She was booked into jail for misdemeanor child endangerment and an aunt picked up the children, Focha said. Mondragon-Barboza posted bail and is out of custody.
Prosecutors filed the charges as felonies.
