New Hampshire mom edited bruises onto baby’s photo for GoFundMe
Call it GoFakeMe.
A New Hampshire mother created a GoFundMe to pay for her legal funds in a heated custody battle for her son, featuring an edited photo of the baby with a fake bruise on his ribs.
Taylier Tibbetts, 20, told Merrimack police that her 3-year-old son had been abused, and showed them the photo.
After an investigation, police realized the picture had been Photoshopped, officers arrested Tibbetts and charged her with one count of false reporting.
The campaign, which asked for $3,500, was created last November and only raised $10 before it was deleted, Bobby Whithorne, a GoFundMe spokesperson told the Daily News.
“There are unfortunate instances where people create campaigns with the intention to take advantage of others’ generosity,” he said in a statement. “In the rare cases where fraud occurs, GoFundMe takes swift action to resolve the issue. In this case, we assisted with the local law enforcement investigation and quickly shut down the account of the campaign organizer.”
When confronted by WMUR reporters, Tibbetts declined to comment on if she edited the photos.
“I’m not a criminal. I’m not a bad mom. I’m not a drug addict. I’m just a mother trying to do what’s right for her son,” Tibbetts told the local station.
he claimed she took the crowdfunding page down after she figured it wouldn’t get her any donations, and she wasn’t “one to take handouts.”
The boy’s father, Bryant Clark, was furious at the cheap ploy, calling it “sick and twisted.”
“Making a pictures and Photoshopping things and taking other people’s money. It’s not right to be doing it,” he told FOX25.
Clark told reporters the mother has been claiming he was abusive for the last three years, for the entire duration of their custody battle.
He’s denied the claims, and police said there hasn’t been any evidence of abuse on the toddler.
