The video was first posted to Facebook by Misty McCormic on 1 September this year and has racked up over 420 000 views and hundreds of comments. The woman in the video is said to be dating McCormic’s ex.

“Kaitlyn wolf is mother in video doing this to her child( her other 12 yr son is recording)…. Not one to be petty but this is child abuse in my book and this b***h should be in jail,” said the caption on the video.

According to reports, Kaitlyn Wolf, from Leesburg, USA, has since received death threats – even though she claimed the video was a ‘joke’.

The footage shows Wolf holding her three year old son tightly with his hands behind his back, and dunking his head into a flushing toilet. The child is screaming ‘no!’ throughout the incident which was allegedly filmed by Wolf’s 12-year-old son.

Child services called

The US Department of Children and Families (DCF) was called, but according to a second post by McCormic on 3 September, the DCF worker did not impose any punishment, and Wolf is still allowed full custody of her children.

McCormic says she has lost her job since posting the video, and has even received death threats herself. However, she has also received masses of support from around the world for her actions.

She said that she posted the footage in order to protect her own children who were spending time with her ex and his new girlfriend, Kaitlyn Wolf. She did not want that sort of “discipline” to be used on her own children.

“As soon as I found out what kind of person she truly is and the kind of person that was around my children, I clocked out on my lunch break and took my kids out of this environment. Just like any mother would in this type of situation.”