news-record.com

FORT BRAGG (MCT) — A Fort Bragg soldier is under investigation after he allegedly filmed his young son fight another toddler and posted the video on a popular Web site.

The YouTube video showing two young boys fighting has caused a stir since it was posted online. The two toddlers push, slap and hit one another while screaming and crying.

The boys appear to be encouraged by the other children and an adult holding the camera.

"Go hit him back," says an unidentified man. "I don't care."

The video is at the center of a custody dispute, said Carol Darby, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

The man allegedly holding the camera is a soldier stationed on Fort Bragg.

He has not been identified by authorities, but the fight was apparently recorded in his home and was brought to the attention of his superiors by his ex-wife, who is the mother of one of the boys.

The mother, Alicia Scheideger, told WTVD-TV that she was horrified by the "baby cockfight." She said she was told the children had been fighting for two days and it was decided that no one would stop them.

Scheideger was quoted by the television station as saying, "I don't think that the boys should be somewhere where they're taught that it's OK to fight like that. I don't think it's OK for them to be around someone who thinks that this is a funny issue. It's not."

Darby said she could not comment on the investigation outside a statement that was released by the command.

"The behavior displayed by the parents in the video is neither condoned nor indicative of soldiers in this command or the Army," the statement read. "The command takes very seriously the health and welfare of all service members and their families. This command will take the appropriate actions as required and will continue to cooperate with civilian agencies."

The video is no longer available on YouTube. According to WTVD, the footage lasts almost two minutes.

At one point, an older boy appears to try to stop the fight but is pulled off camera.

One of the boys can be heard pleading for the fight to end.

"No more," he said repeatedly.

Darby could not comment on the children's injuries, if any. Near the end of the video, one child is said to be bleeding.

Darby said the incident is being investigated by both civilian and military authorities.