Hoaxes and Urban Legends: Chain letter to save South African Child Protection Unit

A chain letter making the rounds talks about small children being raped by AIDS-infected criminals. The letter urges you to send this to everyone you know and to also forward a copy to the South African police once the list of signatories has reached a certain length, in effect spamming them. According to the hoax letter, the South African police is planning to disband its Child Protection Unit despite a wave of similar child rapes. The truth is that no such plans exist. The unit is even being expanded.

The South African Police Service has published a reply on its website explaining the following:

Will the Child Protection Unit be closed down?

This e-mail that has been doing rounds is full of malicious intent and is completely false!

Note that the content of the e-mail is a hoax e-mail. The SAPS is expanding this service

The protection of children is a priority of the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The first Child Protection Unit (CPU) was already established in 1986 due to this.

Due to several factors, it was decided to extend the sensitive service which was provided to child victims, to adult victims of sexual offences. This led to the establishment of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS). The FCS still provides the same service to children.

The Child Protection Units are transformed into Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units.



For more information, go to the SAPS website on the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS).

http://www.saps.gov.za/org_profiles/core_function_componets/fcs/establish.htm

Contact details: http://www.saps.gov.za/org_profiles/core_function_components/fcs/contacts.htm

Please review:

Will the Child Protection Unit be closed down? (SAPS.com)

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Example chain letter (April 2006):

Please take the time to read this, sign it and
forward it on ...


Last week a 3 year old girl (in South Africa) was
beaten and raped. She is still alive. The man
responsible was released on bail yesterday. He is
walking the streets. If you are too busy to read
this then just sign your name and forward this on. The
Government is planning to close the child protection
unit and this is a petition against it. This is a very
important petition. It is an essential part of the
justice system for children.

You may have already heard that there's a myth in
South Africa that having sex with a virgin will cure
AIDS. The younger the virgin, the more potent the
cure. This has led to an epidemic of rapes by
infected males, with the correspondent infection of
innocent kids.

Many have died in these cruel rapes. Recently in
Cape Town, a 9-month-old baby was raped by 6 men.
Please think about that for a moment. The child abuse
situation is now reaching catastrophic proportions
and if we don't do something, then who will? Kindly add
your name to the bottom of the list and please pass
this on to as many people as you know.

If you are signature no. 120 - please forward the
mail-list to childprotectpca@saps.org.za

Please don't be complacent, do something about the
kids of South Africa.

You can make a difference. That child is fighting
for life. This is just 1 of the million cases of child
abuse, so please pledge your support and help keep
CPU (CHILD PROTECTION UNIT) open. Please give your
support to the petition and ensure that it goes to as many
people as possible.

Please don't just leave it, make a difference. In
order to write your name copy this message and paste
it in a new mail (compose). Or click on forward and
add your name to the list and send it on to others.

Again, if you are number 120 please send this to
childprotectpca@saps.org.za

01. first name
02. second name
03. third name
...

Known email hoaxes:
The AOL/Microsoft money giveaway hoax
The "809" area code hoax
The burned baby hoax
Amy Bruce / Make A Wish hoax
The "Invitation" virus hoax
The "Life is beautiful" virus hoax
The Oliver North / Osama bin Ladin / Al Gore hoax
Send spam to the South African police to save children
Exxon/Mobile gas boycott
Bush IQ report / Lovenstein Institute hoax
Monkeyman935 warning hoax
Kidney Theft urban legend
Ashley Flores, 13 (missing child hoax)
How to detect a two-way mirror
$50 call-back spam
Cooking an egg with cell phones

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