A father in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been charged with child abuse and abandonment after allegedly leaving his 20-month-old twin sons locked in a car for over two hours while he danced at a bar. Stephan Natseway, 27, told police he "wanted to have time to himself" after security staff at The Dirty Bourbon Dance Hall & Saloon noticed the toddlers alone in the vehicle and alerted officers, who found them sweating and lethargic. The case has drawn particular concern because the boys' car seats were not properly secured and outside temperatures were high enough to make the vehicle interior dangerously hot.

Police broke into the car at around 1.30am on Saturday after officers described the children as "soaked" with sweat; temperatures had reached roughly 73°F, which experts say can push a parked car's interior above 100°F within 25 minutes. Natseway admitted he could have left earlier but stayed because others were dancing with him, and prosecutors noted he had also failed to take one of the boys to eight follow-up medical appointments and had two prior unproven neglect reports. The children's mother was separately charged with child abuse a year earlier after one boy suffered a broken arm in her care; both boys have now been placed with a family member following hospital treatment.