FCSO Arrests Pair For Leaving Child Outside Bar While Watching The Super Bowl

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Bunnell, FL – Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) deputies arrested a couple Sunday night after they left their child unattended in the parking lot of a bar where they were drinking and watching the Super Bowl. At around 11 PM, an FCSO deputy responded as backup to the Beer House located at 616 North State Street after an anonymous person called and said that two parents left their child unattended inside a truck. A Bunnell Police Department Corporal had seen the child walking around the front of the bar and noticed Kristal Valenti escorting the child back to the truck and sitting with him. Upon making contact with Valenti, the Corporal advised that she was reluctant to provide identification and that she smelled strongly of alcohol.  The Corporal notified DCF and the child was taken into Victims’ Advocates custody. Valenti said that the Corporal was targeting her, and the Corporal noted that her child was “personally known” to him. A deputy with the FCSO then took over to prevent Valenti from accusing the Bunnell Police Department of any wrongdoing. Valenti advised the deputy that she came to the bar with a friend to meet her husband, Robert Valenti, and watch the game. Kristal began to talk about the Philadelphia Eagles and tried fist-bump the deputy. The deputy noted that he could smell alcohol on her breath. Kristal said that she was periodically checking on her child in the truck because the bar would not let him in after 6 PM. She said that her husband was still inside watching the game and that her son knew she was just inside the building at that she had given him her phone to watch YouTube. Kristal said that she arrived at the bar near the beginning of the game and then changed her story to say that she arrived at half-time. She claimed “that’s not abuse” and that she had done it because it was the Super Bowl and she was rooting for the Eagles. Robert then left the bar and joined the conversation. He denied that Kristal had left their child unattended and he said that she had been with him the whole time. A witness informed the deputy that he had seen Kristal periodically check on the boy and that he and the bartender saw the boy running in front of the business towards US Highway 1. The deputy then spoke with the anonymous reporting party. He claimed to be the bartender’s boyfriend and that he was there to help her close the bar. The man said he saw the boy running in front of the business and that he believed the child had been left unattended for around 2 hours. The bartender said that Kristal checked on the boy three or four times during a period of several hours. She said that Robert or Kristal had brought in a cup of his own alcoholic beverage into the bar, which deputies later found in the trashcan. Robert told deputies that he was not drinking. Robert also told deputies that the friend his wife arrived with was watching their son. Kristal confirmed this to be true after she had already said the friend was watching the game in the bar with her and her husband. When deputies pointed this out, Kristal said he was not in the bar long. The bartender said that the friend was present for a short time before he got into an argument with Robert and left. Robert and Kristal both denied the drink being theirs and they argued over who it belonged to. Ultimately, deputies placed both Kristal and Robert under arrest. They have since been charged with child neglect without great bodily harm.

(Kristal mugshot courtesy of the FCSO)

(Robert mugshot courtesy of the FCSO)

Photo courtesy of S_Photo and Shutterstock.com. Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2018.