Yesterday, I checked my e-mail and found a message from a Keith Elkins, an investigative reporter for CBS 42 KeyeTV. After some, well, investigating, they discovered that Matt Schiros is behind the site, claiming it was to push emotional buttons:

In South Austin, in a small apartment out of sight and out of mind, lives a Web site creator who is anonymously soliciting cash donations to stop an alleged unwanted abortion. The Web site, helpmybabylive.com (warning: the site contains content that many will find objectionable) tells the story of a young couple who say, “….if we can’t raise $50,000 in the next three months, we’ll have to choose abortion. We don’t like it and we don’t like the nature of our appeal but it is what it is…”

What we discovered is this is all a hoax. No couple coping with these difficult decisions. No thousands of dollars in contributions. And no impending abortion within the next three months.

After tracking down the site’s creator, 25-year-old Matthew Schiros, he told us “…it’s a joke” designed to “…further the national debate…” about abortion in America…”

Discovering the truth about this controversial Web site and its creator was not easy. At first, Schiros emphatically denied knowing who created the site or whether he even knew if it was legitimate or not. He did tell us, however, he felt they “…have a right to remain anonymous….” and said his only involvement was “…registering the site’s domain name…” and “…hosting the site…” for paying clients.

In addition, he told us regardless, “…it is one of the best jokes I’ve ever seen….”

That is until we turned the tables on him and told Schiros police investigators with APD’s High Tech Crimes Unit told us quite a different story. A version he reportedly told them himself when they paid him a visit late last week.

Confronted with the truth when we questioned him a second time asking, ‘…did you create the helpmybabylive.com website?’ He replied, ‘…Oh yea, totally….” He said it was better for the joke if he was left out completely out of it…”

So who is Matthew Schiros? He is the owner of a web hosting company called InvisiHosting LLC. Politically speaking he previously considered himself a “…conservative…” but now says his views lean more towards being an “anarchist…” He also claims to support, not oppose, legal abortion although he says he strongly disagrees with the Roe-v-Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision, calling it “…stupid….”

The site now has grotesque abortion pictures up with a text box saying, “LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO”.

Underneath it, Matt writes, “There was never a baby, you got fooled, no money was collected. 200,000 people got pranked. Suck it. Tell us what you thought.

Not too surprising, considering Matt has done this kind of thing before.

Thanks so much to Keith Elkins and CBS 42 KeyeTV for uncovering the truth behind this hoax.

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