Man Caught Brutally Beating Autistic Boy at Party Arrested After Video Goes Viral

A man in Okeechobee, Florida has been arrested for the brutal beating of an autistic boy at a house party, after the incident, which was caught on tape, went viral.

The victim, Aaron Hill, told detectives he was invited to a party in Okeechobee last Friday, where he drank alcohol and was then told to go outside and fight someone. When the teen refused, 18-year-old Andrew Wheeler was called.

The full video, which was edited for content when played on news stations in Florida but later released online, is extremely brutal. Andrew can be seen beating the teen, who is huddled against the wall, hands above his head.

The victim has also spoken about the video, saying that Andrew began beating him, following him outside and choking him until he lost consciousness.

Andrew then struck him in the face, according to reports, and left him lying in the road near the house party. 

A police officer found the victim in the street after midnight, and had the teen transported to a local hospital. The victim suffered a sprained neck, facial and scalp contusions and a concussion, according to doctors.

After officers found the video on Andrew's Facebook page, he was arrested for the incident, and charged with "child abuse without great harm." Andrew defended his decision to police after the incident, saying that he'd been commissioned to remove a "drunk guy at a party" who wouldn't leave. 

Evadean Lydecker, the mother of the party's organizer, was also arrested on charges related to the incident. She has been cited for "contributing to delinquency of a minor/holding an open house party," and reports state that she was home during the party.

A number of online activists are calling for justice for the teen, saying that he was called to the party under false pretenses. 

According to one Facebook group, Aaron was invited to the party solely to be beaten:

Aaron Hill is a disabled boy in Okeechobee who was lured out of his home by a girl claiming to want to go on a date. Once to the location she chose, he was ambushed by Andrew Wheeler and a gang of at least 8 other people. Andrew beat him senseless, held a knife to his throat, And told him he was going to shoot and kill him. This was filmed the whole time, but currently this is the only video I can get a hold of. The video was on Andrew's facebook and he went around bragging about his crime. He was arrested, but only charged with minor assault and no charges or arrests are being made on the others involved. Some of the others involved have family in the Okeechobee police department and also DCF. One of the parents even destroyed evidence to protect their guilty little brat. So now the Okeechobee Police Department are trying to bury this story because some of the kids have ties to the department. 

Police have not addressed those accusations.