Arrests Made After Video of Teens Assaulting Mentally Disabled Man Goes Viral

Two juveniles were arrested for allegedly beating up a mentally disabled man in Delaware, WPVI-TV reports. The two boys, 13 and 14 years old, were arrested over the weekend before being released to their parents on $2,500 bond, the news station notes, after a video of them committing the horrible assault went viral. 

According to WPVI-TV, the parents went to the police to complain about phone calls harassing the teens, but investigators instead took the suspects into custody. Investigators also expect to make more arrests.

"We've received a number of telephone calls—911 calls as well as calls to officers people know," New Castle County Police spokeswoman Tracey Duffy told the station.

The video shows Karon, a 26-year-old Newark, Del., resident with Williams syndrome—a developmental disorder that causes intellectual disabilities, distinctive facial features and cardiovascular problems—being slammed to the ground and punched repeatedly by a group of the teenagers as he tries to ward off their attacks by holding up his hands. The video went viral after 14-year-old Angeliz Marrero watched it and pushed it on social media with the hashtag #TheBullyProject.

It took off in a matter of moments.

"It spread so fast, and I'm just so grateful for everybody that's helping me out because if it weren't for everybody helping, supporting and everything, this wouldn't even go viral and that man really deserves justice," Marrero told the station.

Karon’s mother, Yana, who did not give her last name to the station, described how angry she was when she saw the assault on her son, who has the mental capacity of a second-grader. "Rage, anger—because of the situation, with him being mentally disabled, he doesn't do anything to anyone but be kind," she said.

Yana hopes that the awareness of her son’s case brought on by this video will help “just make people more aware that we need to be humane to one another.”

Read more at WPVI-TV.