def parse_comments(commentThread):
    """
    Parse data from the comment JSON structure
    
    Parameters
    ----------
    comment : JSON object of strings
        The comment resource requested from YouTube API v3
    Returns
    ----------
    comment_dict : dictionary of strings
        The dictionary contianing comment text, author, date, no. of likes
    """
    comment = commentThread['snippet']['topLevelComment']
    
    snippet = comment['snippet']
    text = snippet['textOriginal'].replace("\n", " ").replace("\t", " ").replace("\r", " ")
    author = snippet['authorDisplayName']
    date = snippet['publishedAt']
    likes = snippet['likeCount']
    
    comment_dict = {
        'text' : text,
        'author' : author,
        'date' : date,
        'likes' : likes
    }
    
    return comment_dict