Teacher's Aide Accused Of Lying About Having Cancer
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MESQUITE (CBSDFW.COM) - Mesquite police have opened an investigation into a teacher's aide who allegedly lied about having cancer.
Kevin MaBone could be charged with theft for accepting a car and more than $11,000 in cash donations, police said.
Video shows Wilkinson Middle School staff and students surprising MaBone with the money Friday before he was set to take time off supposedly for cancer treatment.
"When people love you like this, it's just truly overwhelming," MaBone said in the video produced by Mesquite ISD.
MaBone, however, used his leave to travel to West Virginia to appear in federal court Tuesday where he was expected to be sentenced for stealing money from his last job.
A federal judge instead ordered a probation officer to further investigate his actions.
Assistant principal Jessica Eaton, who started MaBone's GoFundMe account, said his story started to unravel Monday after he called her.
"He said, he'd gone in for his procedure and they'd done more tests when he'd gone in and discovered they'd misdiagnosed him and he didn't have cancer anymore and that he needed all the money to go back," said Eaton.
Suddenly skeptical, administrators did a google search and found a U.S. Attorney General's announcement MaBone had pled guilty to misusing government funds.
"You go through the sadness and then the anger comes in, the betrayal," said fellow assistant principal Molly Purl.
MaBone has only worked at the school five months, but seemed universally admired.
"He worked 15-16 hour days every day without being asked," said Eaton.
"I don't think you can fake loving kids. And he loved our kids," said Purl.
Korienna Hillary is one of thew students who contributed to the fundraiser.
"It just broke my heart. I didn't know he was going to do us like that," she said.
Now she and her classmates are getting a lesson in handling disappointment.
"I feel like I gave my money to him as a good deed even if he did like he did," she said.
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