Katrina Still Spawning Fraudulent Stories

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we were treated will all sorts of wild stories and rumors, much of it reported as fact by the media and later proven to be complete baloney. Although Katrina is now several months past, a social service agency in Texas decided to spin their own Katrina heart-tugging story to generate some more cash:

It was a heart-wrenching story: A 10-year-old boy named John, separated from his mother during "the hurricane," now lives with other foster children in an emergency shelter, and he has one Christmas wish — to go home.

"But there's no way I'll get gifts for Christmas. I don't even believe in Santa anymore," the story said.

The Brazosport Facts ran the profile on its front page Nov. 29 as part of its Fill-a-Stocking series, which features a different foster child each day from Thanksgiving through Christmas and solicits donations to help fulfill the child's holiday wish.

But the story wasn't true.

Dan Lauck, a reporter with KHOU-TV in Houston, made that discovery after calling the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to request an interview with the child. He believed if the child's story was told on television, it might lead to the boy finding his mother.

Lauck said his requests were repeatedly denied because of privacy concerns, but eventually he was told that the boy was now living with relatives. He asked again for an interview and an agency spokesman told him the profile was "fiction."

Caseworkers with Child Protective Services in Brazoria County, just south of Houston, were responsible for writing the profiles for the newspaper's charity drive, which has been a holiday fixture in the 19,000-circulation paper since 1982.

Bill Cornwell, publisher of The Facts, said the newspaper trusted the state agency to present accurate and fair stories, and believed only minor changes — such as names and ages — were made to protect the children's identities. Given privacy issues related to foster children, Cornwell said there was only so much verification the newspaper could do.

Any donations sent to the newspaper as a result of the stories were forwarded to the Brazoria County Alliance for Children, which collects money throughout the year to help abused and neglected children.

Deborah Spoor, president of the agency, said the newspaper and caseworkers had competing interests. The caseworkers' priority, she said, was to protect the children, while the newspaper needed accurate stories, which could have placed those children in jeopardy.

Lauck said it doesn't appear the CPS caseworkers were trying to profit off the stories or had any bad intentions. He said writing guidelines weren't made clear and some caseworkers may have thought it was acceptable to write composite sketches of needy children.

"They were just trying to tell stories that would clearly tug at the heart, capture the emotions of the readers and inspire them to give more money," Lauck said. "But they did it in a way that misled the public."

Had they told true stories about the kids they're helping, they probably would have gotten just as much support, but instead they had to create a real tear-jerker, and in so doing damaged the reputation of their organization and the newspaper that printed the article. It's called fraud and the people involved should be canned.