A brazen burglar has been caught on camera standing over a toddler's cot, while his family slept nearby.
The toddler's father, Thinh Le, has spoken of his horror when he watched security camera footage showing a stranger roaming around his family's home at around 5am on April 5.
"He was inside, walking around like it was his house," said Thinh. "I was infuriated when I saw him walking back and forth in my baby's room. My stomach was turning. He's my world. I love him."
The teenage burglar entered the home in Texas through an unlocked window on the ground floor. He seems inexplicably drawn to the bedroom of Thinh's two-year-old son and is seen walking in and out of the room repeatedly over a period of five minutes.
From the footage it appears that he was aware that his every move was being recorded, but that didn't stop him hovering over the cot and pointing his torch towards the boy, who briefly wakes up.
Thinh and the boy's mother slept through the incident. They are still baffled as to why the man was drawn to their son's room and Thinh has expressed his relief that his son was not hurt in the incident.
"My boy thought it was me so he went back to sleep. If he made noise or cried and I went upstairs, something else could have happened," said Thinh.
The burglar eventually left with Thinh's laptop and $60 from his wallet.
He went on to burgle another home in the area, but fled the scene when a pet dog sounded the alarm. In his rush to get away he abandoned some stolen belongings, including Thinh's laptop, in the property's front garden.
The man has not yet been apprehended, but Thinh's neighbours believe he may be responsible for a spate of burglaries in the area.