ADAMS — An Adams man charged in October with lying about his son’s death to solicit donations was arrested again this week.
Kaleb D. Stevens, 30, was charged by state police Tuesday with fourth-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud, both felonies. He was issued the same two charges when he was arrested on Oct. 9.
An administrative assistant for FineLine Constructors LLC notified state police that Mr. Stevens was employed by the company and said that on Aug. 4 Mr. Stevens began to have breakdowns at work and informed his co-workers and bosses that his 4-year-old son had died of cancer, state police said in an update Tuesday.
Mr. Stevens lied to co-workers, saying that his son was diagnosed with stage 3 leukemia and died at St. Jude’s Hospital, police said.
Mr. Stevens allegedly told everyone how distraught he and his family were and that he could not afford a funeral for his son because he was recently scammed, according to the state police update.
The company’s employees began to donate money to Mr. Stevens. Donations were made both in cash and through a GoFundMe account. The online GoFundMe page is still up but is not accepting donations.
In addition to the donations, FineLine Constructors LLC also paid Mr. Stevens for 32.5 hours of bereavement time, which totaled $510. Cash donations totaled $1,070.
He was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled to appear in the Centralized Arraignment Part of Jefferson County Court on Nov. 16.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.