Calgary police lay charge after appearance of disturbing online video

CALGARY – An assault charge has been laid in Calgary after a livestreamed video that police say showed two young children being physically abused by their mother as they interrupted her online game-playing.

The department’s child abuse unit started investigating after police received several tips on Tuesday about a video that had been captured through an online gaming website.

Investigators say the woman appears to roughly handle her two children and at one point bites her 14-month-old son.

Her online persona was tracked to a Calgary home where a man, a woman and two children were found.

The 31-year-old mother was arrested and the two children were taken to a safe location.

The woman, whose name has not been released to protect the children’s identities, is to make her next court appearance on Jan. 17.

“In this case we were able to act swiftly to locate the children to ensure their well-being, thanks to those who quickly reported the video,” child abuse unit Staff Sgt. Peter Siegenthaler said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2019.