Pennsylvania Mohegan Sun Pocono Casino Alleged Child Sex Assailant Has Court Date

Posted on: November 16, 2021, 10:29h. 

Last updated on: November 16, 2021, 02:01h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

A 65-year-old man is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for allegedly sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl outside of Pennsylvania’s Mohegan Sun Pocono casino. The attack took place in 2016.

Mateo Mejia, Mohegan Sun
Mateo Mejia, center, is escorted by police. He is charged with the sex assault of a child outside of a Pennsylvania casino. (Image: WBRE)

Police said Mateo Mejia of Scranton, Pa. admitted to the assault while questioned by authorities. The girl, who is now 13, recently informed police about the assault, the Citizens’ Voice, a Pennsylvania newspaper reported.

While in a parked car at the Wilkes-Barre gaming property, he allegedly placed his hand up her leggings, exposed himself, and forced her to touch his genitals, police said. Last week, Mejia was arraigned on charges of corruption of a minor, indecent exposure, and indecent assault of a minor, according to PennLive, a regional news site.

The victim’s relative was in the casino gambling while the attack took place. During the summer months five years ago, Mejia drove both the girl and her unnamed relative to the casino.

The relative had arranged with the girl’s mother to babysit the child. Then it was decided that Mejia was to watch the girl in a car while the relative gambled. The girl’s mother was at work.

Mejia claimed the girl was “curious” about sexual contact, according to court documents quoted by PennLive.

Mejia was being held at Luzerne County Correctional Facility. He was denied bail by a district justice as of last week. The judge claimed Mejia would be a danger to the community if released, WNEP, a Pennsylvania TV station, reported.

The report added that Plains Township, Pa. police suspect there could be more victims.

Sex Assault in Bethlehem Township

In an unrelated crime, a sexual assault of an apparently unconscious woman in a Bethlehem, Pa. casino bathroom led six months to a year in a prison sentence.

Traver Tilley, 31, of Bethlehem Township, was sentenced for assaulting the victim in March 2019 in a woman’s lavatory near the Vision Nightclub in the former Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, according to Lehighvalleylive.com, a regional news site.

Unattended Minors

The increased number of unattended minors left in parked cars while adults gamble at Pennsylvania’s Valley Forge Casino Resort has led the gaming property to take several new precautions. One includes installing infrared surveillance cameras.

The infrared cameras can detect heat if a child or other person is in a parked car. That will assist security guards in patrolling vehicles with darkened windows.

In total, the gaming property and officials from its parent company, Boyd Gaming, plan to spend $776,000 on prevention and education regarding the issue. These details include more warning signs.