Social media helps police track down and arrest Michigan man, who violently beat, threw down a child

Social media helps police track down and arrest Michigan man, who violently beat, threw down a child
John Wesley Hanley III has been charged with child abuse after striking a child under the age of five (Screenshot/ Click on Detroit YouTube)

If you or anyone you know suspects child abuse, you are urged to immediately call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

PONTIAC, MICHIGAN: The Oakland County Sheriff’s office has reportedly detained a man after a TikTok video showed him aggressively hitting a child under the age of five. The video posted on the social media platform was emailed to the police department by a concerned citizen on October 14, Friday.

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John Wesley Hanley III was found striking the child in the cheeks and then knocking him to the ground in the reel. Investigators quickly located the place in the video near the 1200 block of Perry Street in Pontiac with the help of the TikTok video and surveillance footage. The Flint resident can be seen verbally disciplining a child for kicking dirt while waiting in line for a food truck. Seconds later, the male suspect was spotted dragging the child out of the line by the arm through the parking lot before beating him, cops told WDIV