{"id":8123,"date":"2026-07-28T02:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T09:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/?p=8123"},"modified":"2026-07-28T02:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T06:24:22","slug":"23-year-old-justin-whittington-charged-with-child-abuse-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/?p=8123","title":{"rendered":"23-Year-Old Justin Whittington Charged with Child Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-tiktok wp-block-embed-tiktok\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ba.l296\/video\/7645875622056660237\" data-video-id=\"7645875622056660237\" data-embed-from=\"oembed\" style=\"max-width:605px; min-width:325px;\"> <section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@ba.l296\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ba.l296?refer=embed\">@ba.l296<\/a> <p><a title=\"foryou\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/foryou?refer=embed\">#foryou<\/a> <a title=\"new\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/new?refer=embed\">#new<\/a> <a title=\"tiktok\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/tiktok?refer=embed\">#tiktok<\/a> <a title=\"fyppppppppppppppppppppppp\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/fyppppppppppppppppppppppp?refer=embed\">#fyppppppppppppppppppppppp<\/a> <a title=\"greenscreen\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/greenscreen?refer=embed\">#greenscreen<\/a><\/p> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"\u266c original sound - \ud83d\udd4blslamic video\u2764\ufe0f\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-7645875674309282573?refer=embed\">\u266c original sound &#8211; \ud83d\udd4blslamic video\u2764\ufe0f<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 23-year-old Bakersfield man faces criminal charges after a disturbing store surveillance video captured him striking a young child. Justin Whittington was charged with misdemeanor child abuse following the April 2015 incident at Vest Market in Bakersfield, California&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/charge-filed-after-man-seen-on-camera-hitting-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The surveillance footage, which later circulated widely online, shows Whittington chasing a 3-year-old boy\u2014identified as his son\u2014through the store before hitting him in the face, causing the child to fall to the ground&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/charge-filed-after-man-seen-on-camera-hitting-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-3035429\/Pictured-Man-23-filmed-punching-toddler-face-hard-falls-ground-California-supermarket.html#comments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>. The video also shows Whittington yanking the crying toddler up by his shirt before a pregnant woman, believed to be the child&#8217;s mother, leads the boy out of the store&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-3035429\/Pictured-Man-23-filmed-punching-toddler-face-hard-falls-ground-California-supermarket.html#comments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/justin-whittington-man-who-punches-toddler-son-to-supermarket-floor-released-on-bail-10170559.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>. Store owner Harry Dindral described the incident as &#8220;the worst thing I&#8217;ve ever seen&#8221;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/charge-filed-after-man-seen-on-camera-hitting-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/pix11.com\/news\/disturbing-video-man-punches-toddler-in-face-in-supermarket\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whittington was initially arrested on a felony child cruelty charge with bail set at $1 million&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-3035429\/Pictured-Man-23-filmed-punching-toddler-face-hard-falls-ground-California-supermarket.html#comments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/pix11.com\/news\/disturbing-video-man-punches-toddler-in-face-in-supermarket\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>. However, after further review, prosecutors downgraded the charge to misdemeanor child abuse and bail was reduced to $20,000. The District Attorney&#8217;s office cited the lack of visible injury to the child and consideration of Whittington&#8217;s record as factors in the decision&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/charge-filed-after-man-seen-on-camera-hitting-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>. The child was examined by medical personnel and did not require hospitalization&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/charge-filed-after-man-seen-on-camera-hitting-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/justin-whittington-man-who-punches-toddler-son-to-supermarket-floor-released-on-bail-10170559.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whittington took to social media following his release, calling the incident &#8220;a misunderstanding&#8221; and asking for a &#8220;second chance&#8221; while requesting that his family be left out of public scrutiny&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-3037453\/amp\/This-misunderstanding-Father-23-caught-CCTV-punching-three-year-old-son-face-supermarket-asks-second-chance-following-arrest.html?ico=amp_articleRelated_with_images\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>. A relative expressed shock at the video, stating she saw no signs of such behavior when Whittington lived with her family, but added that the child &#8220;is not in a safe environment&#8221;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/gallery\/man-out-of-jail-after-viral-video-shows-child-getting-hit-in-face?photo=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case drew widespread public outrage, with experts emphasizing that striking a child in anger is never justified and can cause lasting psychological harm regardless of physical injury&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/charge-filed-after-man-seen-on-camera-hitting-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-96-576x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8011\" srcset=\"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-96-576x1024.png 576w, https:\/\/duye.it.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-96-169x300.png 169w, https:\/\/duye.it.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-96.png 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 23-year-old Bakersfield man faces criminal charges after a disturbing store surveillance video captured him striking a young child. Justin Whittington was charged with misdemeanor child abuse following the April &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8125,"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8123\/revisions\/8125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/duye.it.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}