In a story which has amazed America young Hayden Wright is reported to have broken into his neighbours' home stealing presents from under their tree, all the while chugging back on a can of beer.
If that image isn't tragic enough, when the young boy was eventually found by the police he was wearing a little girl's dress, one of the presents he had taken.
His mother April, 21, blames his estranged father who is currently in jail. "He runs away trying to find his father," Ms Wright explained, "He wants to get in trouble so he can go to jail because that's where his daddy is."
Hayden's little crime spree began when he escaped from of his home in the middle of the night, breaking the childproof door in the process.
Before he left, he took with him a 12-ounce can of beer, somehow managing to open the tab seal.
He then rang on a neighbours' doorbell. The door was answered and his little adventure should have ended there, but inexplicably Hayden was able to go on to break into another home through an unlocked front door, where he helped himself to several presents from under the tree.
The youngster was found wandering round his neighbourhood at 1.45am. About the same that his mother woke up and realised that her son was missing.
Naturally enough she started to panic. "The biggest concern was him being out there, getting kidnapped, getting run over, the alcohol, having to have his stomach pumped," She said.
But fear turned to embarrassment when she found out what her little boy had been up to.
"Kids do things like this and it's out of your control" Ms Wright said, adding, "you can only do the best you can as a mother, everybody makes mistakes."
After meeting with child services it was decided that Hayden should remain with his mother.
Although he is an exceptionally determined and ingenious little boy, he is still only four years old and therefore can he reasonably be held accountable for his actions?
Little Hayden wearing a dress, beer in hand and surrounded by stolen gifts may epitomise the opposite of Christmas. Who do you think is to blame?