*sigh* Here we are again, reporting on a viral GoFundMe campaign that ended up being a lie.
Earlier this week, a little boy in Washington state made headlines after he claimed he stood up to bullies in his apartment complex. A GoFundMe was set up by a family friend that went on to raise approximately $45,000 before it was removed from the platform (archived here). It’s unknown what will happen to those funds.
Detectives with the Olympia Police Department said they developed information that the boy’s story wasn’t holding up and the injuries might not have been from an attack. They confirmed those suspicions Thursday.
“The injuries sustained by the child are the result of a fall, which occurred at the apartment complex on the date in question, not an assault,” Olympia Police said in a news release Thursday. “As a result, there are no suspects of any age.”
1,388 people donated $45,862 to the GoFundMe to benefit the little boy’s mom in 6 days.
It read:
My friend Savannah and I created this Go Fund Me Account for our good friend Dana. On August 22nd, 2018 one of our community member’s sons was attacked by 7 children in his apartment complex. Carter has multiple hematomas on his forehead, a concussion, lacerations to his eyelid and eyeball (they had to pull beauty bark out of his eye), fractured elbow in 3 places and a broken arm and he has the possibility of loosing his left eye. Carter is 6 and has Autism. He is a very smart boy and loves video games, playing with his friends and being with his family. What happened to him wasn’t okay and the police are not stopping until they catch the kids that did this to him. They beat him with sticks and rocks. This Go Fund Me account is to help his mom, Dana English, with medical bills and gas money.
There is no question that Carter suffered physical damage, however it’s unclear at this point how exactly he was hurt. What we do know is that it didn’t happen because some kids in his complex beat him up, making the entire premise of the GoFundMe false.
“Appropriate social services have been notified to ensure the continued welfare of the child involved,” Olympia Police said.
