Police line do not cross
File photo: US police tape Reuters

A man in Ferriday, Louisiana has been arrested after a video posted online allegedly showed him beating a young girl with a belt and shaving her head as punishment for downloading the Snapchat app. 30-year-old Alex Harrison was arrested on child cruelty charges, local media reported.

The beginning of the footage, posted on Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube, appeared to show Harrison, with a caption reading: "She wanna be grown, she getting her a** whooped n her hair bald. School is for work not f****** Snapchat. She ain't got no business with no damn snap anyway. Stay tuned."

The videos were no longer available on Harrison's Facebook, which has now been inundated with users leaving abusive comments targeting the father. His page also links to a website which includes numerous naked pictures of a man, who appears to be Harrison, along with videos of the man engaging in sex acts.

According to the Natchez Democrat, the video in question showed a man, who authorities believe is Harrison, striking a young girl with a belt over 50 times. Another person is filming the incident and yelling encouragement, the newspaper reported.

The identity of the girl and her relationship to Harrison has not been released as she is a juvenile.

In a second video, the same man seen in the other footage is seen shaving the young girl's head while the other person says" You want to act like you grown? You ain't grown." Another video shows the girl crying while a person says: "This is what happens when you get grown... This is what you do. Now go in there and get yourself together. See if you want to be grown."

The video is understood to still be under investigation with the local police department, while other arrests linked to the case could take place.