Police Say Parents Faked Son's Cancer for Donations, Visit to Syracuse Football

A Port Byron, New York, couple allegedly faked their son's cancer diagnosis in order to secure donation money and a visit with Syracuse University's football team.

According to CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office said Martin and Jolene LaFrance pretended their son, CJ LaFrance, had Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The LaFrance family made $3,334 on a GoFundMe page it created for CJ, and it was invited to visit a Syracuse Orange football practice in August 2017, when CJ was nine years old.

CJ's uncle, Justin Roe, said shortly after the Syracuse visit that the cancer had been upgraded to Stage 3 and that CJ had undergone radiation therapy, per Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com.

The Cayuga County Sheriff's Office investigated the case for four months and said it determined "conclusively" that CJ LaFrance was never diagnosed with cancer, according to Stapleton's report.

Martin and Jolene LaFrance will appear in court May 16 to be arraigned. They have been charged with scheme to defraud and endangering the welfare of a child.