A father is facing up to five years in jail and a $35,000 fine after he was charged for leaving his infant in a car alone while he went shopping.
The 35-year-old unnamed dad from Perth, Australia, has left his 3-month-old baby in a car alone for around 30 minutes in the afternoon.
While the car was parked in an undercover car park with windows lowered, passersby alerted the authorities after hearing the baby’s cries.
Some 15 minutes later, the police arrived at the scene and removed the infant who was strapped to the child’s seat located behind the driver’s seat.
After taking the baby to the hospital for a check-up, the police have charged the father, who alleged that he was only gone for 30 minutes, with child endangerment.
“This is a warning for all parents and all carers not to leave children unsupervised in locked vehicles,” Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said in an interview with The West.
“We are approaching warm weather, it is going to be 30C early next week and this is a very sober reminder. Leaving your child, particularly an infant, unattended in your vehicle can be a criminal offense.”
While the outside temperature only reached 26 degrees Celsius on the day of the incident, the temperature inside the car could have been much higher than that of the surroundings.
The father is set to appear at the court at a later date. He is facing up to five years in prison and/or a $35,000 fine.
In another recent incident, a 2-year-old girl has tragically passed away from overheating after her own mum left her in a car for several hours while drinking with her friends.
As the police reported, young June Love Agosto has passed away after being locked in her mother’s vehicle for over five hours.
Meanwhile, June’s 34-year-old mother from Torrance, California, had been in her friend’s car drinking and chitchatting.
After returning to her car, which had its windows shut while she was gone, the mother has found her daughter covered in burns and vomit.
While the mum attempted to cool the 2-year-old down using cold water, she was too late and the girl passed away on the way to the hospital.
After the toddler’s painful death, the coroner branded her passing as ‘accidental,’ meaning that no immediate charges could take place. The investigation continues and there have been no arrests as of this writing.
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