Tyree King’s father has attracted the attention of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in his quest to stop people from profiting off other people’s misery by creating fake GoFundMe-type crowdfunding websites.
There have been two recent cases of such activity — one involving 2-year-old Kinsley Kinner of Madison Twp. in Butler County and one involving 13-year-old Tyree of Springfield.
In August. a Springfield Twp. woman was sent to jail for stealing more than $1,000 from the nearly $3,000 she collected through an online site for the family of Tyree. The boy was walking along a street in June when he was killed by a drunk driver. The 71-year-old driver pleaded guilty and has been sent to prison.
This month, an apparently fake GoFundMe page set up by a Tennessee woman who used the likeness of Kinsley angered residents in Butler County. The boyfriend of Kinsley’s mother is accused of beating the child to death. The child’s mother is accused of allowing the assault to occur.
After his having to live through the online fraud case involving his son and then learning of the Butler County crowdfunding allegations, Todd King said he had seen and heard enough.
It’s great that people want to help others in times of tragedy, he said, but the activity has to be monitored.
“For the parents, not to have any say so in what’s going on with their kids, it’s just crazy,” King told News Center 7’s Layron Livingston on Wednesday night.
So in November, King began calling lawmakers.
“They kept giving me this name, and this name, and this name — like I said, I’m not going to stop calling until I talk to somebody,” he said.
That was until Wednesday morning, when he got a call from Sen. Brown’s office.
Tamika Turner, a spokeswoman for the senator, said while no laws have been drafted or introduced, “[The Senator] is aware of this growing issue and … looking for ways to implement additional safeguards, and exploring whether there needs to be a legislative fix.”
King said no family should be hit with information about their deceased loved ones being tied to fundraising scams.
The progress he has made with Sen. Brown “makes me feel good, man - because it’ll stop someone else from getting preyed on.”