Bethany Storro is going to have a disfigured face to go with crying Wolf. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Some people really are that starved for attention. Sometimes, the behavior is harmless enough; a person shaving their head for instance. Sometimes people do things that make them seem pathetic, like appearing in a reality TV series on MTV. However, sometimes the cry for attention comes from doing something drastic, and harming ones’ self or possibly others. Well, that’s what Bethany Storro did. The acid face attack story she fed the media was a hoax, and she permanently disfigured herself.
Bethany Storro attacked
Some time ago, a story went out over the news wires of a young woman, one Bethany Storro of Vancouver, Wash., who had been attacked and disfigured. The story was that someone had thrown a container of acid on her face. The old saw of a young woman disfigured by acid seemed to have come true, and people really believed it. Bethany Storro, according to CNN, was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 30, and released Sept. 5. She claimed that a young African-American woman had asked her if she wanted anything to drink and threw acid in her face.
Acid attack hoax admitted
The story seemed so perfect, though an awful cliche. It turned out to not only be a cliche, but also false. According to Time, as she neared release, police began investigating some things that didn’t add up. The Bethany Storro acid burns were in a pattern that better fit being carefully applied, rather than thrown. According to Sky News, the acid used was of similar corrosive quality to sulfuric or hydrochloric acid. Confronted with the inconsistencies in her acid attack story, she admitted to the acid attack hoax. Just like the balloon boy or a meat dress, it was a stunt.
Paying the piper
Bethany Storro is going to have to live with scars for the rest of her life. However, she also is going to have to live with the legal consequences of a likely conviction of filing a false police report. She must also give back all the donations for her hospital bills, and pay the hospital back herself.
What about her role in the copycat attack of an innocent woman in Arizona 4 days after her alleged attack? I am sure there is no legal precedent for holding her responsible for that attack, but she is partially to blame. I believe that there has to be some legal punishment imposed.
I haven't heard anything about that, but it is doubtful that she could be held criminally liable for anyone who engaged in a similar act. If anything, Bethany Storro is already being charged with filing a false police report, so she'll have that to deal with more than anything else.