Authorities argue that a California woman’s alleged fake kidnapping has cost the public over $150,000 and hours of investigators’ time.
Shasta County Police Sheriff Michael Johnson said that it cost the department over $150,000 in resources to investigate Sherri Papini’s, 39, “staged abduction,” which he said was a “conservative” estimate.
CALIFORNIA WOMAN CHARGED AFTER FAKING HER OWN KIDNAPPING
“Not only did this charade take valuable resources away from real criminal investigative matters, but in a time where there is serious human trafficking cases with legitimate victims Sherri Papini used this tragic societal phenomenon to gain notoriety and financial gain,” Johnson wrote in a Facebook post.
In addition, the California Victim’s Compensation Board paid Papini over 35 payments totaling over $30,000 in victim assistance money between 2017 and 2021.
“The 22-day search for Sherri Papini and subsequent five-year search into who reportedly abducted her was not only taxing on public resources but caused the general public to be fearful of their own safety, a fear that they should not have had to endure,” Johnson said in a release by the Department of Justice.
Papini is accused of fabricating a story that she was abducted back in 2016 by two Hispanic women after authorities conducted extensive searches.
The investigation found that she was voluntarily staying with her boyfriend in Costa Mesa and harmed herself, including a “brand” on her right shoulder, to corroborate her claims, according to the release.
Papini faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for making false statements to a federal law enforcement officer if convicted. She also faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for mail fraud.
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Papini is expected to appear in court Tuesday for a detention hearing to determine her custody.
