Two South Jersey men were arrested Sunday after one filmed the other urinating on the memorial of a 9-year-old boy.
Police were alerted after someone sent them the video, which had been circulated on Snapchat. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Bryan Bellace, 23, was charged with “lewdness, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and having an open alcoholic beverage in a park.” Daniel Flippen, 23, was also charged with “having an open alcoholic beverage in the park.” Flippen is believed to be the person who shot the video.
The video shows the man believed to be Bellace urinating on the memorial while smiling at the camera.
The memorial was for 9-year-old Christian Clopp, who died in 2012 from brain cancer. His father, Mark, a former Hamilton Township police officer, posted on Facebook about the incident.
“So, my day started out horribly, after learning what happened to Christian’s memorial. After controlling my own emotions and assisting my family with same, I finally found a moment to put all of this into perspective,” his father wrote.
“Aside from the two morons facing criminal charges, I saw a community once again come together for a cause. I’ve heard from hundreds of people offering assistance. Friends and strangers went to wash the memorial off,” he added.
On Sunday, he gathered with friends and family to clean and disinfect the memorial.
“At the end of the day, the good outweighed and overwhelmed the bad,” he continued. “This is what Christian did during his life. He brought people together and he has accomplished that again. Perhaps the playground will be beautified, maybe expanded as a result. It doesn’t matter, as long as it is enjoyed by thousands of children in the future.”
Following the incident, Clopp has now started a fundraiser to expand and beautify the public playground (which is not the one pictured above) where his son’s memorial was erected. The fundraiser is set to kick off at the playground on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
In a follow-up Facebook post, Clopp said he had “been contacted by all of our major news agencies for an on-camera interview,” but that he had declined them all.
“I don’t think a 10 second clip of my feelings are going to change what happened in any way,” he wrote. “As a father and retired police officer, I think this incident can be turned into a positive by becoming a learning experience for all.”
Clopp also had a message for the men who defaced the memorial:
I don’t know either one of you. I have no idea what exists in your life to make you so indifferent to how others feel but I hope this serves as a wake up call and you get the help you need. I admit, my initial reaction was to find you and beat you senseless in defense of my son’s honor and the distress you caused my family. I am better than that. I hope it doesn’t take the heartache my family has lived through to open your eyes. Something is wrong in your life and you need to fix it. You have done serious damage to your reputation; only you can fix it. How you respond to this dictates the direction your life will take.
The memorial for Clopps son reads: “A child who made the world a better place through his courage, faith, smile, laughter and love of others. May your memory and inspiration live on forever.”