McClure man accused of leaving children in hot truck while gambling in casino

A McClure, Illinois, man was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child after he left his son and daughter in a pickup truck Saturday while he gambled in Isle Casino Cape Girardeau, police said.

Joshua Kyle Matlock, 33, entered the casino at 12:12 p.m. Saturday, according to video surveillance from the casino, Cape Girardeau police officer J. Monteith said in a probable-cause statement.

The video showed Matlock sitting at a slot machine at 12:15 p.m. Casino security approached Matlock at 1:07 p.m. and escorted him outside.

“It should be noted that it appeared Matlock never left the slot machine or attempted to check the welfare of his children in any way,” Monteith wrote in the statement.

The outside temperature was about 90 degrees when a 4-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy were found alone in the pickup truck, according to the statement.

Jacob Lancaster, a security officer with the casino, said he found the two children in the pickup truck.

According to the probable-cause statement, Lancaster stated the girl told him her father said “not to cry, scream or talk to the police while he was gone.”

Lancaster stated the boy would not speak to him.

Monteith, the police officer, said when he approached the vehicle, he saw the girl’s face “was flushed, and her hair appeared to be wet around the forehead area.”

He reported “the vehicle was turned off, windows were down, and the two children were sitting alone in the cab of the pickup truck.”

Matlock said he “went inside to win some money for the children. He stated he did not know the time or the temperature outside,” according to the statement.

The two misdemeanor charges, filed in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court, each carry a punishment of one day to one year in jail, or a maximum fine of $2,000 or both, prosecutors said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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