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Police: Parents faked son's cancer to get donations; boy visited SU football

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A Port Byron couple made up a story that their child had cancer in order to illegally solicit about $3,000 from sympathetic donors, according to the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office.

Martin and Jolene LaFrance were charged with scheme to defraud and endangering the welfare of a child on Friday, according to the sheriff's office.

Martin D. LaFrance
Jolene M. LaFrance

Deputies, acting on a tip, discovered that Martin and Jolene LaFrance solicited money under the guise that their son, CJ LaFrance, was battling Hodgkin's lymphoma.