Children played in traffic as drunk father slept

File photo / Rotorua Daily Post

Two pre-schoolers aged 2 and 4 roamed the streets and crossed Rotorua's busy Old Taupo Rd in peak traffic after their drunk father fell asleep.

Police found the pair playing in the West End New World carpark and took them home and alerted social workers. But before they could arrive, the children wandered off a second time after their father fell asleep again, and were later found playing in a nearby church yard.

The case has sparked outrage and disbelief among Rotorua residents and national family advocates.

The father, Peter Tutahera Waiti, 32, appeared before Judge Jocelyn Munro in Rotorua District Court yesterday, pleading guilty to two charges of leaving children under the age of 14 unsupervised.

Judge Munro told Waiti she was appalled the children were not properly being watched, leaving them in a dangerous situation.

They could have been hit by cars as they crossed busy Old Taupo Rd to get to the supermarket, she said.

"I take this matter very seriously. You were drunk and asleep and these two children were found 500m away.

How lucky you are that they weren't killed," she said.

"It's a complete disgrace - you were so drunk you couldn't be woken."

Waiti was drinking at home on September 16 and fell asleep while he was supposed to be looking after the children. As he slept about 2.30pm, the two pre-schoolers walked about 500m from their home on Malfroy Rd to Old Taupo Rd, which they crossed.

Police were called as the pair played in the carpark.

When they arrived at Waiti's house, police found him sound asleep.

He told police he did not know the children had left the home.

Police left the children with Waiti and contacted Child, Youth and Family to raise concerns.

But when social workers arrived three hours later to check on the children, they had vanished again.

Waiti was difficult to wake as he was in a "drunken stupor" asleep on the lounge floor, the police summary of facts said.

When they did manage to wake him, Waiti smelled strongly of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.

Both children were taken into care and now live with a foster family.