Parents arrested for shaving their son’s head so he could pretend to have cancer and raise more than $60,000: “It’s a perverse and cruel plan”

A “perverse and cruel plan”

Acting Deputy Commissioner John DeCandia said he “could not think of a more evil and cruel plan that parents have done to their own child” in connection with the allegations.

«It is abhorrent that people seek to profit from their own personal greed and selfishness. from a condition as insidious as cancer that affects so many families in our community,” he said. The matter was reported to police on November 26 and the Western District Child and Family Investigation Section had been working with the Department Child Protective Services, the child’s school, and Child Protective Services.

Psychological damage

DeCandia said daily risk assessments had been conducted to ensure the short-term safety of the boy and the couple’s other child, a girl between six and 12 years old.

“It will be alleged that the defendants shaved the head and eyebrows of their six-year-old son and He was placed in a wheelchair with bandages to mimic a stereotaxic radiotherapy treatment“, said.

“Our investigation has confirmed that the child is not seeking medical treatment. We believe that this simulated illness is causing significant and serious psychological harm to the child and his brother.

The children have been removed from the parents’ custody and are being cared for short-term by a family member. “The child will need constant support because to initially think that he has cancer and is not well would be quite devastating,” DeCandia said.

The man and woman were denied police bail and were scheduled to appear in the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon.