An Arizona man, Ascencio Largo, was handed a sentence of just four months in jail followed by a decade of probation after a shocking incident involving his children. Largo, aged 38, faced severe public backlash after he left his four young children, all under ten years old, in a sweltering car while he indulged himself in a nearby adult store. The temperature inside the vehicle soared to a dangerous 124 degrees Fahrenheit.

This incident unfolded on the afternoon of July 24, when temperatures in Phoenix hit a scorching 106 degrees Fahrenheit. Around 3:40 p.m., a vigilant passerby noticed the children trapped in the overheated car and immediately alerted the authorities. The Phoenix Police Department sprang into action following the distress call, as detailed in an official police press release.

Upon arrival, officers discovered that the father, reportedly intoxicated at the time, had left his children unattended for approximately an hour. Meanwhile, Largo was found engrossed inside The Adult Shoppe, a sex store situated in Phoenix’s Crestwood neighborhood. Police located him within the theater room of the establishment.

Despite facing eight felony charges due to the reckless endangerment of his children, Largo’s sentencing last week sparked controversy over its perceived leniency. The case serves as a stark reminder of the critical responsibility that comes with parenthood, especially in extreme weather conditions. The safety of children must remain paramount, and this incident underscores the potential consequences of neglectful behavior.

He was browsing a sex store called The Adult Shoppe in the Crestwood neighborhood of Phoenix – and cops found him inside the shop’s theater room.

Body camera footage shows responding officers speaking to the children in the back seat and asking: ‘Where’s mom or dad?’ and ‘do you know where your guys’ family is?’ One of the children can be heard saying: ‘No.’

Police said when they arrived at the car, it was turned off and all the windows were rolled up.

Officers immediately entered the car and pulled out the children before placing them in a patrol vehicle with air conditioning running and giving them water. 

Ascencio Largo, 38, was sentenced to four months in jail and ten years’ probation in Phoenix last week after being arrested because he had left his four children in a car that reached 124F

Body camera footage shows officers speaking with the children after they responded to a call from a witness who had seen the children in the car

The officers immediately pulled the children out of the car, placed them in a patrol vehicle with air conditioning running and gave them water

That was when they measured the temperature inside the vehicle and found it was 124F after having opened the doors. They also took the children’s internal temperature, all four of which were around 100F. 

At Largo’s hearing, the judge said: ‘You are presumed innocent, but what the police are alleging could have resulted in, you know, the kind of story that gets picked up on international news wires: Man goes into porno store leaving his four children to die in their car.’

Law enforcement sources told AZFamily that the children were all visibly suffering from the heat. They were sweating, hot to the touch and had red skin. 

During Largo’s first court appearance, prosecutors said: ‘The children were in imminent danger of death in this situation.’

The judge said: ‘You could have exited that store to a car full of your dead children which is rather shocking. It indicates a strong level of reckless culpability.’ 

The four children were all sent to a nearby hospital to be evaluated and treated for any heat-related issues. All have recovered and are under the care of their mother.

After police found the children, Largo had not responded to multiple announcements made by store employees and officers looking for the parents. 

The body camera footage shows Largo being placed in cuffs. He had initially told police the car was not his

Largo was browsing this sex store called The Adult Shoppe for about an hour while his children were in the car

According to court documents, the father attempted to walk out of The Adult Shoppe’s back door, where an officer was waiting and asked if the car belonged to him. 

Largo initially said ‘no,’ but officers followed him until he walked around the corner to find his car surrounded by emergency response vehicles, where he reportedly said: ‘Oh sh*t.’

The father’s bail was set at $5,000, and he was ordered to stay away from the children if he posted it. 

Prosecutors said he had a criminal history, including a prior extreme DUI. 

The case has disturbing similarities to that of another Arizona father who recently killed himself hours before he was set to go to jail for leaving his two-year-old daughter to die in a hot car while he watched porn and played video games.

Christopher Scholtes was set to be sentenced for the death of his daughter – but he was found dead a day before going to prison for murder. 

Scholtes left his daughter Parker to nap in the back seat of the family Acura, parked on the driveway of the family home in Marana, near Tucson, in July 2024.

He sat inside playing video games, drinking beer, and watching pornography for more than three hours, while Parker died an agonizing death in searing heat.

According to Kids and Car Safety, last year three children died in hot cars in Arizona. The state has the fourth-highest rate of child hot car deaths in the country, with 50 recorded since 1990, behind only Texas, Florida and California.