An Adelaide couple has been arrested for allegedly falsely claiming their child had cancer in order to receive tens of thousands of dollars in donations.
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00:00SA Police just held a press conference revealing they've arrested a 44-year-old woman and a
00:0844-year-old man from Adelaide's western suburbs, alleging that they caused serious psychological
00:13harm to their six-year-old son by falsely claiming he had a cancer diagnosis.
00:19Police allege the man and woman shaved their son's head and his eyebrows and also placed
00:24him in a wheelchair with bandages to imitate radiotherapy treatment.
00:30Police also allege that the couple were requesting monetary donations for their son's treatment
00:35and believe they raised around $60,000 in a two-week period.
00:40Police say their investigations confirm the child is not seeking medical treatment and
00:45say that the victim and his sibling have suffered serious psychological harm as a result of
00:51their parents' treatment.
00:53The Acting Assistant Commissioner spoke a short time ago and said that police first
00:57became aware of this incident about two weeks ago.
01:00Let's take a listen.
01:02It will be alleged the accused shaved their six-year-old child's head, eyebrows, placed
01:09him in a wheelchair with bandages on his head in order to imitate stereotactic radiotherapy
01:16treatment.
01:18The investigation has confirmed that the child is not seeking any medical treatment.
01:25Police say both the victim and his sibling have been removed from the custody of their
01:29parents and that a nominated relative is providing short-term care.
01:33Both the man and the woman have been charged with criminal neglect and deception offences.
01:38They have been refused police bail and will face the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court today.
01:43Police are seeking anyone with information on the matter to come forward.