Three youths arrested after group violently beats, robs teen

WATCH ABOVE: A videotape of a vicious assault in Mississauga highlights how many are willing to record rather than report. Sean Mallen reports. 

TORONTO – Police are investigating after a teenager was violently assaulted and robbed at approximately 10 a.m. Tuesday morning in Malton.

A video of the fight, which shows several males punching and kicking a defenceless 18-year-old boy who is lying in the fetal position in the snow near a light pole, was uploaded to Liveleak.com hours after the fight.

The victim’s nose was broken. Police and paramedics later took him to a local hospital.

Police have arrested three people so far.

“It is disturbing and what’s most disturbing for me, personally, and for I think many other people, is that no one bothered to pick up the phone and call 911 while this is taking place,” Peel police Const. Thomas Ruttan said.

WATCH: Brampton teen assaults police officer during arrest

The video was uploaded to Liveleak.com shortly after the fight. Ruttan said recording fights and uploading them to the Internet is not technically illegal. What it does do, he said, is give police evidence for their investigation.

But the video isn’t the first of its kind. Spectators recording videos of fights rather than intervening is becoming more common as smartphones become increasingly widespread. Randall Craig, a Toronto-based social media expert, described the video as “sickening” and suggested the person who took the video might have been motivated by ego or narcissism.

“The video itself is disgusting and it’s mind-boggling that somebody could think this is actually the right thing to do,” he said.

He admitted however that people can sometimes be drawn to watching similar videos.

“I think people are always looking for something that’s titillating, something that’s new, something that’s just a little bit beyond what was before,” he said.

The investigation is still ongoing.