A 12 year old Atlanta boy went viral a few weeks ago, after family members abused him on Instagram Live, and gave him a terrible haircut – all because they suspected the boy was gay, MTO News has learned.
Now police have finally acted. MTO News confirmed yesterday that three of the boy’s relatives have been arrested by the Atlanta Police.
The video, which showed the young boy being slapped on Instagram Live because of his sexual orientation, sparked outrage online. In the video – the boy is seen with a terrible haircut, and the words “gay” carved into the side of his head.
Three adults are seen slapping and pushing the boy around, while antagonizing him for being “gay.” Within 24 hours, police told MTO News that they were able to locate the juvenile and all those involved. The child was also placed into protective custody with the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services.
Here’s the video, warning it is disturbing to watch:
MTO News confirmed with police that Jordan Jarrode Richards-Nwankwo, 18, Lorkeyla Jamia Spencer, 19, and Brittney Monique Mills, 35, were all charged with cruelty to children. Richards-Nwankwo faces an additional charge of battery.
Investigators said the video which was posted in June shows a young man with the word “gay” shaved on the side of his head, and also shows people yelling at him and hitting the young man. According to the police report, someone in the video was yelling at the boy, “You still doing gay s—. You think I cut this in your head for no reason?”
“Investigators were made aware of a video posted on social media that depicted a young male abused and it appeared that he was being abused because of his sexual orientation,” the police said in a statement.
“This was a difficult video to watch. When you see someone, you know, I have a child, and when you see a young person being abused like this, I mean this is just so unnecessary. It was difficult to watch. And I think with a lot of the investigators it was the same way,” the statement added.