Investigators determined that a boy who was screaming in video shot by a neighbor who thought he was being beat by his parents was not abused, after his mother was taken in for questioning early Friday.
Hemet police officers responded to the 200 block of North Alessandro Street regarding a child abuse investigation early Friday morning, according to Hemet police.
The child abuse investigation, "included a social media post that contained an audio recording of the incident," Hemet police said in a statement.
Someone can be heard screaming at the start of the recording, which seems to show the side of a home. Later in the video, someone can be heard screaming, "Let me go," repeatedly.
One neighbor, Margaret Sanchez, shot the video and posted it on Facebook.
The child was placed in protective custody with Child Protective Services, Hemet police said.
After the mother was taken in for questioning, Hemet police released a statement later Friday that a crime was not committed.
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"Following an intensive investigation by experienced child abuse investigators and Pediatric Physicians, it became clear that a crime had not occurred before, during or after the events depicted on the Facebook video," the statement read. "While the audio is painfully difficult to listen to, Hemet police investigators interviewed all parties and reviewed extensive, detailed video of the events leading up to, and after, the FB video was shot."
The boy's father, who identified himself as only Dennis, said the incident was big misunderstanding, and that his son suffers from mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Dennis said he often has to restrain his son -- and sometimes has to be rough with him -- because he gets violent.
"I'm just protecting my son," Dennis said. "I've got to restrain him and hold him, so that he doesn't harm himself."
Sanchez said she shot the video because "a little boy was getting beat. It was just wrong," she said.
Sanchez said when she tried telling police, they did not believe her, and said there was nothing she could do to help since she was not a family member, Sanchez said. She added that she tried talking to a social worker about it also.
"I wanted to beat up the parents yesterday," she said. "It was bad."
According to Sanchez, the "dad was kneeing him in his privates." In the Facebook post with the recording, she added that the boy had been handcuffed while he was beaten, and that his head was banged into a wall.
Sanchez said she had a golf club and was ready to go help the boy, but could not get over a fence to do so.
The case is being investigated by the Hemet Police Department and CPS.
