US man leaves baby in locked car to enjoy strip club, faces imprisonment

Washington: A California man was awarded imprisonment of up to six years in prison by a court for leaving his nine-month-old baby girl alone in a parked car while he went inside to enjoy in a strip club.

Los Angeles district attorney Jackie Lacey on Tuesday said in a statement that 24-year-old Auwin Dargin was found guilty of child abuse in an incident that took place in March this year.

Authorities said that while Dargin was inside the strip club, employees and neighbouring businesses heard a baby crying inside a locked car and therefore called the cops. They also rescued the baby in the meantime.

The club’s employees said they became suspicious after noticing Dargin leave the venue every 15 minutes on the afternoon of March 9 and then returning. Local news reports said he was in the middle of a lap dance when the club’s manager informed him that his child had been found.

The baby appeared disoriented and was taken to a nearby hospital, suffering from mild dehydration, authorities said. Dargin has pleaded not guilty in the case.

(With inputs from AFP)