Authorities are investigating claims that a 9-year-old bullied boy might actually be a grown man who bamboozled the public into nearly 1/4 million in donations, Your Content has exclusively learned.
“There is an active investigation into the claims,” a source close to the investigation told Your Content. “This is not to discredit the fact that bullying is a real issue at hand and this could very well be a child. However, at this time, we have not validated his age.”
The probe comes on the heels of reports that the boy was harshly bullied in school and criticized for his dwarfism.
“The Aussie government offered this man the opportunity to commit crimes by conning American citizens and individuals around the world,” a source close to the federal probe told Your Content exclusively, noting a task force was formed late last year to combat fraudulent internet sensations.
“They [Instagram con-men] can rest assured that the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office are always vigilant; on the lookout for con-artists who become internet sensations asking for donations.
“The government will aggressively, fairly and appropriately prosecute anybody who steps across that fine line,” the source continued.
“We’re not in a position of giving advice to Instagram actors, but what we can say is that we are here, and we are watching.”
But as far-fetched as it sounds, these are the astonishing accusations put forward by a wave of people who shockingly accuse the child of being an adult.
Quaden Bayles — who has even gotten the attention of celebrities online offering his support — is really 18 and “scammed everybody,” tweeted Jasmein Dowe on Friday, according to several Twitter users who reposted the accusation with some photos of an adult-looking Bayles from his Instagram page.
“What 9-year-old child waves money around and cares for designer items?” said one outraged local on his Instagram. “A FRAUD! Show them your ID – the one you use to buy cigarettes. Fraud.”
When harsh bullies criticized Quaden Bayles, 9, for his dwarfism, he said to his mother as they were journeying home: “Give me a knife, I want to kill myself.”
His mother, Yarraka Bayles, from the Australian state of Queensland, captured the chilling moment on her phone.
However, millions are convinced he was actually 18 and was a sociopath adult who had masqueraded as a child for years and tried to con people out of their money.
“This is what bullying does,” she said in the video. “Can you please educate your children, your families, your friends?”
Yet what began as a plea has quickly become a movement. The video has been viewed 16 million times since it was posted on Tuesday, with Bayles receiving a massive outpouring of support from around the world, according to local reports.
“This isn’t just for Quaden, this is for anyone who has been bullied in their lives and told they weren’t good enough,” Williams said on the fundraising page. “Let’s show Quaden and others that there is good in the world and they are worthy of it.”
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