Report: Kids say mom gave boy, 3, ‘swirly’ in toilet ‘in fun’

A Leesburg mother was joking around when she held her 3year-old son upside down as he shrieked while his head was dipped into a flushing toilet — a stunt described as a “swirly” — that was filmed by her 10-year-old son in a viral Facebook video, according to a police report released Tuesday.

“The children’s stories indicated that it was done in fun, they had been wrestling with mom just prior to the video,” the report said. That account jibes with what Kaitlyn Wolf, 31, told WKMGChannel 6.

The state Department of Children and Families is investigating the incident and Leesburg detectives are working with the State Attorney’s Office to determine possible criminal charges after authorities received numerous complaints about the footage, Leesburg police Maj. Steve Rockefeller said.

The video was posted Saturday afternoon by Misty McCormic,

the ex-wife of Wolf’s boyfriend whom he shares children with. It had been viewed 422,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon and shared by 10,000 Facebook users. McCormic said on Facebook she was sent the clip but did not name the person who sent it.

The incident report states a DCF investigator visited Wolf’s home Thursday, before McCormic posted the video, and didn’t see any injuries to the younger child. Both boys appeared to have no fear of Wolf, according to the report.

Facebook covered the video from immediate view but didn’t remove it. The clip comes with the warning: “This video may show violence against a child or a teenager. We haven’t removed it from Facebook because it may help rescue the child in question.”

On Saturday evening, the Lake County mom told a Leesburg officer she had given her son a “swirly” and was receiving death threats from those who viewed the footage, prompting extra patrols around her home over the weekend, police said.

The officer observed the 3year-old boy to be “a very dynamic child, very talkative and full of energy,” the report said. The older son, who was described as “less animated,” showed the officer that his brother enjoyed being held upside down by demonstrating the move.

According to the report, the younger brother’s “excited laughter” was similar to what was heard on the video.