This boy wasn’t attacked by his stepmother

The shocking photos have been shared more than 2,500 times on various Facebook pages. We’ve archived some of the posts here and here.

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A screenshot of the claim shared on Facebook, taken on February 25, 2020

Many of the posts encourage Facebook users to “take 2 seconds to type Rip” or “don't be too busy to type Rip”.

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A screenshot of comments on a Facebook post (names blurred), taken on February 25, 2020

The Facebook publications link to a blog post from January 12, 2020.

“Little Gabriel who was thoroughly beaten by step mother finally dies in the hospital this morning,” it claims.

AFP ran a reverse image search on Google and found the photographs of the boy in an article from British news site Metro from December 2018.

Daycare attack

“Toddler looked like he had been ‘mauled by animal’ after attack by child at daycare,” the headline reads, alongside several pictures of the boy covered in scratches.

The article claims that the 18-month-old child was “attacked by a four year-old child at his daycare center” in Pascagoula, Mississippi on December 6, 2018.

Local media reported that the daycare centre closed down after the attack.

AFP searched the boy’s mother’s Facebook profile -- given as the source of the photographs -- and found a picture of him from June 30, 2019, months after the attack. The photos showing the aftermath of the attack appear to have been deleted.

Contacted by AFP, spokeswoman for the Mississippi State Department of Health, Liz Sharlot said the daycare centre manager “closed her doors voluntarily” when the authority found she was operating illegally during an investigation following the attack.

AFP contacted the boy’s mother on Facebook but has not yet received a response.