Adelaide couple raised $60,000 for their child’s fake cancer diagnosis, police allege

A couple who allegedly faked their child’s cancer to scam more than $60,000 shared social media posts about his illness in the weeks before their arrest.

A mother and a father have been charged over a $60,000 fake cancer diagnosis scam in which they allegedly shaved their six-year-old son’s head and put him in a wheelchair to trick people into thinking he was sick.

The couple, 44, both from Adelaide’s western suburbs, have been charged with committing an act likely to cause harm and deception, and will face the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday.

SA Police documents, filed with the court, allege the offences occurred between November 18 and December 12 this year at locations across the western suburbs.

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They allege the couple “engaged to represent” the child “had cancer, knowing that engaging in such acts was likely to cause harm” to him or were “recklessly indifferent as to whether such harm was caused”.

The offence is considered an aggravated charge, due to the age of the boy, and carries a maximum seven-year prison term.

The documents further allege the couple deceived another person to benefit themselves to the value of $3000 or more.

In a case police have described as “abhorrent” and “extremely traumatic,” it will be alleged the pair shaved their young son’s head and eyebrows and placed him into a wheelchair with bandages on his head to imitate radiotherapy treatment for cancer.

Acting Assistant Commissioner John DeCandia at the SA Police headquarters.

SA Police alleged the couple had been requesting monetary donations via online fundraising platform GoFundMe as well as through the child’s private school in the western suburbs to fund the ongoing treatment for their child.

“GoFundMe Trust and Safety specialists are aware of the charges and are investigating as part of our standard due diligence process. At this time, based on information provided, no funds were raised via GoFundMe. However, this is an on-going investigation and we will continue cooperating with police,” GoFundMe released in a statement.

They allegedly raised about $60,000 over a two-week period.

In a social media post, friends of the family shared details of them having receiving “the worst news ever” and “every parents’ nightmare” from the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The post claimed the boy had been diagnosed with Stage 1 eye cancer with “three tumours that are on and around the optic nerve”.

The post further claimed the boy’s cancer “will not spread to the rest of the body” but was “positioned right next to the brain”.

The post provided BSB and account details for donations.

“(The family) would appreciate that you do not use the term cancer around (the boy) or your children,” the post read.

“(The boy) knows he has a sick eye that will get better.”

SA Police Acting Assistant Commissioner John DeCandia said the matter was first reported to police on November 26, prompting an investigation led by the Western District Child and Family Investigation Section in conjunction with the Department of Child Protection, the child’s school and Child Protection Services.

Acting assistant commissioner DeCandia said daily safety assessments were undertaken to ensure the safety of the child during the investigation.

He said investigations had confirmed the boy was not seeking medical treatment and the farce illness was causing significant and serious psychological harm to the child and his sister, who was aged between six and 12 years old.

Acting assistant commissioner DeCandia said the situation was “extremely traumatic” for the children.

“You can just imagine, mentally, thinking that you’ve got cancer and even for the other sibling to be thinking that their (brother) has cancer … it’s devastating,” he said.

“I couldn’t think of anything more abhorrent or anything worse a parent could do to their child than to make them think they’ve got cancer purely for their own personal greed and selfishness, just for them to get some money.”

The boy and the girl have been removed from the parents custody and placed, in the short-term, with a relative.

Police became aware of the matter after member of the community noticed “something wasn’t quite right”.

“We’re grateful to the people that were able to come forward and tell us that something wasn’t quite right on the surface, and that caused our detectives to do some investigating … and uncover what we’ve alleged,” acting assistant commissioner DeCandia said.

He said the alleged crimes “takes away from people in genuine need”.

“We’ve got a fantastic community here in South Australia and people do support those in genuine need,” he said.

“It’s disgusting that these types of cases may … have an impact on people that genuinely need that assistance and it would be terrible for people not to contribute to such necessary causes, the genuine ones, because of such a rare case as this.”

The police investigation is ongoing and officers are expected to speak directly with the children in the coming days and weeks.

Officers are also determining whether they can recover the donated money.

The child’s school is understood to be notifying its community about the matter this morning.

Police are appealing to anyone with information relating to the investigation, or if they believe they have donated money to the family, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 33 000 or to attend a police station.