Scripted Child Kidnapping Video Peddled As Real

A scripted video showing children being kidnapped is being shared with the claim that it is a real incident.

BOOM found that the video is scripted and is not based on a real incident.

Former lawyer and conservative commentator Rogan O'Handley shared the 29-second video with the caption, "The media claims that child sex trafficking is a conspiracy theory and doesn't want videos like this getting around." He later deleted the video but the post still remains on his Twitter feed.

Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.

Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.

FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that the visuals are from a scripted video that has been shared multiple times on Facebook.

A reverse image search of some key visuals from the video led us to a YouTube video uploaded on June 30, 2022. The video carried the same visuals from our viral video.

We then used Hindi keywords such as 'child kidnapping, child kidnapping videos, kidnapping of children' ('बच्चा अपहरण, बच्चा अपहरण वीडियो, बच्चों को किडनैप') to look for the video on Facebook and found several videos similar to the one uploaded here.

We looked at this video closely and found a text in Hindi and English at the 0:30 mark of the video.

The text reads, "Please read the video disclaimer carefully. This is not a real incident."

This video is longer than the viral video and runs for about 2 minutes and 29 seconds.

At 1:28, we also found another longer disclaimer in English that stated that the video was fictional and made for awareness purposes.

BOOM could not independently identify the original creator of the video, but it is clear that it is not based on a real incident.

We have previously fact-checked other similar scripted videos that were circulated as real. Read here.