Poker-playing mom ordered to take parenting classes in child-neglect case

WYOMING -- A Grandville mom who left her kids in the car while she played in a charity poker game will have to pay $450 in fines and take some parenting classes.

Judge Steven Timmers told Diem Thi Tran Thursday that if she paid the fines and met other conditions within six months, her criminal record would show that the charges were dismissed.

Tran was at a charity poker event at Woody's Press Box, 5656 Clyde Park Ave. SW, on April 23 when an officer said he found her three children asleep in her car around 1:17 a.m. in the parking lot.

The Wyoming Police report stated witnesses claimed the children -- ages 5, 10 and 15 -- had been in the car for as long as three hours. Tran also was charged with no valid insurance and defective equipment on the car.

Tran, who needed proceedings translated to Vietnamese, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor child neglect charge. However, she has denied she was abusing the children and disputed the contention the kids were in the car for as long as three hours.

The children have been tended to by Child Protective Services and are in the custody of their father. Tran lives with the children and their father.

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News Added: 08 June, 2008

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