New Hampshire police investigated the hanging of a young boy after a rope was tied around his neck over the weekend. The minor's mother pointed the finger at a local teenager, whose name wasn't revealed. Police did not name the teen as a suspect in the case.

The 8-year-old received medical treatment for his injuries. The child’s mother later posted photos of the boy’s wounds on Facebook.

Cassandra Merlin uploaded images of her child's neck Aug. 28, which appeared to show several lacerations. Officials transported her son to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where he received treatment for his injuries.

"So my son is being flown to Dartmouth after a 14-year-old kid decided to hang him from a tree," she wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post, New Hampshire’s NH1 reported. "I don't care if this was a so called accident or not. My son almost died."

Merlin suggested the incident was a hate crime. In a subsequent Facebook post Thursday, Merlin claimed her son, whose name wasn't disclosed, wouldn’t go back outside to play because of the ordeal.

"It truly saddens me that even in a city so small, racism exists. My son used to love being able to go to the park with his older sister and shoot some hoops! Now, he's not even allowed to go outside without me," she wrote. "It's sad that in a city we considered to be safe, we aren't safe at all."

Claremont Police Chief Mark Chase did not comment on the specifics of the case because it involved juveniles and they "need to be protected," according to NH1. Additionally, he did not say if police were treating the case as a hate crime.

If the incident didn’t involve children, he would have divulged more information. "We don’t want things to follow kids throughout their life," he told NH1.

The victim’s grandmother, Lorrie Slattery, alleged that before her grandson was hanged from the tree, some of the neighborhood children used racial slurs against him because he’s biracial, Valley News reported.

One of the teens got on top of a picnic table and used a rope from a nearby tire swing, she said. The teen placed the rope around his own neck and then suggested the victim try.

"The [teenagers] said, ‘Look at this,’ supposedly putting the rope around their necks," Slattery told Valley News. "One boy said to [her grandson], ‘Let’s do this,’ and then pushed him off the picnic table and hung him."

"If it was an accident, that boy or anybody there wouldn't have left him," Slattery added. "I believe it was intentional."

Hate crimes are not unknown among juveniles though adults are usually involved, according to a 2013 report released by the Connecticut General Assembly.

"According to NIBRS data analyses, approximately 1.3 million crimes known to the police in 2008 were committed against children under age 18, representing 9 percent of all known crime victims and approximately 25 percent of these victims were under age 12," the report read.

"At least one adult was involved in 56 percent of juvenile victimizations known to police and 48 percent of identified offenders against juveniles were adults."

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