MOORHEAD-A Moorhead woman faces 12 counts of child neglect after a Moorhead swimming pool worker called police to report that a group of children there were being cared for by a woman who appeared to be heavily intoxicated.
According to a complaint filed in Clay County District Court:
Police were dispatched to the Romkey Park pool about 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
When officers arrived, a pool employee helped them find a woman identified in the complaint as Chelsea M. Gapp, 22.
One officer reported that Gapp was stumbling around while holding a child in her arms who appeared to be about 2 years old.
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Gapp also had difficulty speaking, but denied she had been drinking.
A preliminary breath test indicated Gapp had a blood-alcohol level of 0.252 percent, more than three times the legal driving limit, according to the complaint. Officers discovered Gapp was babysitting six children at the pool who were from two different families, the complaint stated.
The children ranged in age from 2 to 10 years old. The parents of the children were located and the children were returned to their homes.
One parent said she left her two children with Gapp about 9 that morning and that she contacted Gapp about 5 p.m. to arrange to pick up the kids.
She said Gapp asked that the kids be allowed to stay with her a little longer because they were having fun, the complaint said.
One pool worker told police Gapp was seen stumbling around the pool and at one point she was observed to lick the water of the pool.
Another pool worker told police she found Gapp lying on the floor of a pool shower room with two young children standing next to her.
That worker said she took the children into her custody as she left the shower room to contact police.
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Gapp appeared in court on the charges on Thursday, July 14, and conditions of release were set at $8,000 bond without conditions, or personal recognizance release with conditions.
She faces one charge of child neglect and one charge of child neglect or endangerment for each of the six children she was caring for at the pool.
