Hacker Defiles Facebook Page of Terminally-ill ‘Bucket List Baby’ Shane
Social Media
Just days after a Pennsylvania family welcomed – and shortly thereafter lost – their newborn on Oct. 9, someone infiltrated his social media profile and began posting explicit images.
Jenna Gassew, Shane's mom, and her husband, Dan Haley, had set up a Facebook page earlier this year to track the experiences of their unborn son, nicknamed “Bucket List Baby Shane.”
He was diagnosed with anencephaly -- a rare, terminal condition -- in utero.
Around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 11, the couple received a message, which appeared to come from Facebook, asking them to verify the page’s account.
"The email looked very, very similar to one we got before," Gassew said.
But the message was not from the social network.
"It looked legit, so I typed in Dan's name and password," Gassew said. "And then they took control of Shane's page and took me out of being able to control it."
After several hours, Facebook staff members removed the inappropriate posts and returned control of the page to Shane's parents.
Shane has about 1 million followers. His page has displayed photos of the expectant couple's trips to Linvilla Orchard's petting zoo and the Jersey Shore, among other adventures.