You may have seen a viral video pop up in your various social channels yesterday that showed a woman being forced out into the freezing cold New York streets naked while a man recorded it, hurling a stream of abuse at her. Maybe the worst guy from your high school shared it with a "She deserved it!" on Facebook. Either way, the graphic abuse video quickly went viral, garnering reactions of horror and, of course, some of support. Even the city's First Lady weighed in with a statement.
Now the New York Daily News reports that the abuser, 24-year-old Harlem resident Jason Melo, has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies for his crime.
Melo was arrested and charged with choking, child abuse, coercion, and assault after he allegedly punched and choked his unnamed girlfriend in front of her daughter. He then threatened to kill her unless she disrobed, and forced her to walk around naked outside while he continued to emotionally abuse her. The video was yanked from YouTube but has been viewed over 600,000 times on LiveLeak, which, unfortunately, is exactly what Melo wanted. After all, public humiliation only works if there's a participating public.
Before being arrested, Melo attempted to beg women for forgiveness via Instagram, all the while still employing the logic of an abuser: "I came from a woman, I have a daughter, and I have two sisters," he says in his final disaptch. "But look what you pushed me to do."
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terrible things
,jason melo
,viral videos
,intimate partner violence