Child abuser sentenced

Jan. 5—A Flint man caught on video assaulting a little boy in a Pontiac parking lot was recently sentenced.

While he faced up to a year in jail, John Wesley Hanley III got a break a few days ago when Judge Cynthia Walker of 50th District Court sentenced him to six months probation for a misdemeanor charge of child abuse. Hanley, 25, pleaded guilty to the crime on Nov. 22.

Hanley also was ordered to pay $655 in court costs including a $200 fine, probation oversight fees and more.

According to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, a TikTok video shows Hanley on Oct. 14 dragging a child by the arm through a parking lot and then hitting him aggressively in the face. Hanley allegedly had become angry with the child for kicking dirt as they stood in a food truck line.

A concerned citizen had seen the video on TikTok, the sheriff's office said, and then shared it with deputies who subsequently obtained additional video from a nearby store's security camera, the sheriff's office said. TikTok — a China-based video hosting company — later pulled the video showing the abuse, the sheriff's office said.

Hanley's probation ends June 27.

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