Police say South Australian parents faked child’s cancer diagnosis and treatment to claim thousands in donations

ABC NEWS (Australia)

An Adelaide couple has been arrested for allegedly falsely claiming their child had cancer in order to receive tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

Transcript

00:00SA Police just held a press conference revealing they've arrested a 44-year-old woman and a

00:0844-year-old man from Adelaide's western suburbs, alleging that they caused serious psychological

00:13harm to their six-year-old son by falsely claiming he had a cancer diagnosis.

00:19Police allege the man and woman shaved their son's head and his eyebrows and also placed

00:24him in a wheelchair with bandages to imitate radiotherapy treatment.

00:30Police also allege that the couple were requesting monetary donations for their son's treatment

00:35and believe they raised around $60,000 in a two-week period.

00:40Police say their investigations confirm the child is not seeking medical treatment and

00:45say that the victim and his sibling have suffered serious psychological harm as a result of

00:51their parents' treatment.

00:53The Acting Assistant Commissioner spoke a short time ago and said that police first

00:57became aware of this incident about two weeks ago.

01:00Let's take a listen.

01:02It will be alleged the accused shaved their six-year-old child's head, eyebrows, placed

01:09him in a wheelchair with bandages on his head in order to imitate stereotactic radiotherapy

01:16treatment.

01:18The investigation has confirmed that the child is not seeking any medical treatment.

01:25Police say both the victim and his sibling have been removed from the custody of their

01:29parents and that a nominated relative is providing short-term care.

01:33Both the man and the woman have been charged with criminal neglect and deception offences.

01:38They have been refused police bail and will face the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court today.

01:43Police are seeking anyone with information on the matter to come forward.

Category

Transcript

Recommended