JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — There have been a number of children claiming that they'd been attacked over the past three months then later admitting they made the incidents up.
A 14-year old boy told police in early October that a man forced him into a car and sexually assaulted him in Durkeeville. However, that abduction never happened.
"These children are getting more elaborate with their stories, or should I say their lies," said Action News Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson.
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False abduction reports waste valuable police resources at the taxpayers' expense, Jefferson said.
"These children have vivid imaginations and they don't understand the cost and the manpower of taking police away from something more important and coming to see about them," Jefferson said. "They don't understand the repercussions of that."
A 12-year old boy told police in September he fought off a man who tried to snatch him as he walked home from school on the Northside. Police said that boy made up the story so he wouldn't get into trouble with his parents for fighting with another boy.
Jefferson said officers can and will flush out the truth.
"What these kids don't realize is that the police are trained investigators, trained interrogators," Jefferson said. "They are going to get to the truth. They may not get to it the first day, but they're going to get to the truth."
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However, there are real cases of children being attacked and abducted, like 7-year-old Somer Thompson who was raped and killed in an Orange Park home and 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle who was taken and killed.
Jefferson said while we don’t want to frighten our children, we should teach the kids that when it comes to their safety, the way to stay out of trouble is to tell the truth.
"Parents should have regular conversations with their children so they won't have their fear of coming to them saying, 'look I got into a fight, I got suspended,'" Jefferson said.
A Clay County teen was arrested and accused of lying to deputies about being pulled over by a person pretending to be a law officer.
People convicted of filing a false police report face one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.