US police have arrested a 38-year-old father after he allegedly left his four children inside a hot car without an AC to spend an hour inside a sex shop.
The arrested father was identified as Ascencio Largo.
He has been booked on charges of child abuse.
The incident came to light after cops responded to multiple calls about kids left unattended in a vehicle, which was switched off with the windows rolled up on a 104-degree (approx. 41 degrees Celsius) July afternoon, reported New York Post.
“Officers responded to a parking lot of a business near 24th Street and Madison Street regarding multiple children inside of a vehicle that was not running. When officers arrived, they located multiple children in the car. Officers were able to gain entry into the car and secure the children,” Phoenix Police said as quoted by the news outlet.
The temperature inside the car had reached a sizzling 125 degrees (approx. 51 degrees Celsius), police said.
The children were identified to be aged 2, 3, 4, and 7.
They were all showing signs of heat distress, including skin discolouration and profuse sweating, Phoenix Police Sgt. Rob Scherer told New York Post.
The children were removed from the vehicle.
After the children were freed from the car, police contacted Largo, who was taking his time inside The Adult Shoppe, a sex shop featuring “an adult arcade with communal viewing theaters and private rooms, providing a unique and discreet environment for sexual exploration”, the newspaper reported.
The father was jailed on four counts of endangerment.
