A father has lost custody of his five-year-old daughter after he left an Amazon Alexa device to babysit her while he went to a bar.
The 30-year-old father from Wales, United Kingdom, left the little one asleep and in the presence of no one else but the inanimate virtual assistant while he went out for a drink with his new girlfriend.
Per The Sun, a court was told that the unnamed man said to police that he had "willingly left his daughter at home" at 8 PM because he could see her via the Amazon Alexa camera on his phone.
The situation came to the attention of authorities after he was arrested for strangling his new partner at the end of their date.
Law enforcement was called to investigate and he confessed to leaving his daughter in his girlfriend's home with her Alexa device at her bedside.
Prosecutor Rebecca Ross said the child lived with her dad half of the time and the other half of the time with her mother.
Ross said: "They had been drinking vodka and gin with lemonade at home from around 8pm. The defendant’s daughter was in the house but in bed. He wasn’t going to go out but he was not chuffed when she said she was going out without him, so he went out as well.
"He set up an Alexa camera in the bedroom so he could watch the child while they were out. She wasn’t sure if he went back at all during the evening to check on her."
The court was told that he was supposed to be looking after her when he instead "went to a string of pubs" in the market town of Builth Wells, Powys.
It was revealed in court that a neighbor heard screaming in the backyard at about 2 AM.
Police officer Phillip Coombs arrived 10 minutes later and separated the arguing couple.
"When he was later interviewed he stated he had grabbed the victim by the throat; he told her to shut up and that she needed to calm down," he added.
"He said he’d left his daughter at home, but had an Alexa camera app on his phone to monitor her snoring."
Defense lawyer Gareth Walters said: "He is a young man of previous good character, who has entered guilty pleas to serious offences. The consequences of this will be felt by him for a long time. His daughter has been taken away and it was largely him who cared for her.
"He felt he was keeping an eye on his daughter but he realises you can’t do that remotely. There was some effort by him to keep an eye on her but he knows the standards fell below what is expected of a parent."
The father was jailed for 12 months but it was suspended for 2 years.
The man confessed to intentional strangulation of his partner and child neglect at the magistrates court in Llandrindod Wells, Powys.
