A shocking YouTube video shows an 8-year-old Bridgeport boy in his front yard, swearing and making racist statements -- in the background, a grown man eggs him on.
Now, police have arrested the neighbor, Josh Eastman, 24, of Bridgeport. He is accused of coaching his young neighbor to make the disturbing statements, and paying him $1 to do it, the Connecticut Post reported.
Eastman was charged with impairing the morals of a child Tuesday and later posted $2,500 bail.
The boy's mother, who asked that her name not be used, told the Post that the video, called "Swearing Kid," has upset her family.
“It's terrible what he did," she said. "This isn't my son. He would never say anything like that, and now it's out there for everyone to see."
The boy's family learned about the video from a relative.
"My boyfriend's sister saw it on the computer and was totally shocked and told us about it," the boy’s mother told the Post. "Here my son is saying, for everyone to see, these things that are disgusting," the mother said. "I've been receiving calls all day from friends who saw it."
Police said Eastman admitted to making the video. But he told the Post on Wednesday that what the boy said on the video wasn't disgusting.
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"It was fun things, funny," he told the newspaper.
On Thursday, Eastman said he did not encourage the boy to spew profanity and that he had only recorded the clip because the child developed a reputation in the neighborhood for swearing.
Eastman also said he was suprised that the boy's family called police. He said that his family and the boy's were friendly, and he would have taken the video down had the boy's family simply asked him to.
A Bridgeport police spokesman said the video has been taken down.
