PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office wants the public to know that there is a false post about a missing child circulating on social media.
Last week, the Sheriff’s Office posted a photo of a flyer claiming that a child has not been seen by his mother and that he is potentially endangered, with deputies warning that this is not true. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the child’s mother purposely posted the fake flyer.
The post, according to the Sheriff’s Office, falsely claims the young teenage boy “is believed to be in extreme danger as he was kidnapped by two known child rapist traffickers” and provides names.
Deputies said the child is, in fact, safe with his father, who was granted sole custody, and enrolled in school. They also said they have checked on the child’s welfare multiple times.
Deputies said the family is cooperating and they are trying to maintain the family’s privacy but felt the need to address this publicly since the flyer was posted to several social media platforms. Deputies ask people to take down any posts with the flyer and to stop sharing those posts.
Deputies told News4JAX on Monday that despite the post being fake, people across the U.S., including some advocates against human trafficking, have believed what the mother of the child posted online.
News4JAX has chosen not to include in this story any names that were posted on the flyer to protect the identity of the child. One of the men whose names appear on the flyer is the child’s father. He told News4JAX that this false narrative is putting his life in danger.
“I feel unsafe for myself and my family,” he said. “‘I’m getting phone calls and threats.”
The Sheriff’s Office said the father’s concern for his safety is valid — which is why it has not ruled out providing him protection.
News4JAX crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson also said the father has a legitimate fear for his life given the number of people who still think this social media post is real. To put that into perspective, the Sheriff’s Office said, in recent days, hundreds of people have called the office demanding justice. The Sheriff’s Office also says the fake post has generated so much national attention that resources have been redirected.
“We have a number of staff that have been exclusively with public records requests that have come out of this case from across the country with bloggers and other folks that have become involved,” said Col. Joe Wells, with the Sheriff’s Office. “The mother has called us under different names, using false names to report crimes and so we have to look into that every single time it comes in.”
Investigators said the mother was recently arrested on charges of cyberstalking the child’s father, and now, because of the recent post and the threats it has generated toward the father, new charges of cyberstalking are pending from the State Attorney’s Office.
In the meantime, people who believe the mother’s allegations, which have been proven false, have started raising money for her online, and so far, more than $600 has been raised.
News4JAX tried calling the mother to get her side of the story but was not able to leave a message on her phone.
According to legal documents, the father was given sole custody of the child because a judge ruled the mother was unfit to have custody because she has a delusional disorder.