Chitwood had a starkly different reaction this week to news that the father had published his son's photo on the Internet with a plea for cash.
After the boy's assault and his attacker's beating became national news, the father reportedly posted the photo on Facebook saying he needed $1 million to pay for the boy's care after the assault. He also set up a GoFundMe page, which Chitwood derided as a "disaster."
As of Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe link on the Facebook page directed visitors to a page asking for help saving a mother of four from being evicted. GoFundMe said in a statement that its privacy policy prevented it from divulging whether a user's page had gone live, but Chitwood confirmed he had seen it.
"My detectives and I went and looked at it. It was requesting 1 million dollars," he said. "It's out of control. Somebody's thinking 'We're going to cash in on this.' I didn't get it."
Chitwood also expressed concern that the victim could suffer additional psychological stress as a result of his dad's actions.
"He's a parent. He has to do what he thinks is right, but from a law enforcement perspective, we go through great lengths to protect identity of sex assault victims. There are psychological problems that come from being a victim. To put the kid out there is a disaster," he said. "I've been doing this 27 years. I've never seen anything like this."
Not like this... smh The father just lost all respect. How can you publish your son's photo and turn this into a money thing??
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