Ohio Attorney General Suing Cops For Kids, Youth Charity

CLEVELAND, OH — Standing in front of a table of stuffed animals, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Wednesday morning that he was filing a lawsuit against the nonprofit Cops for Kids. The group reportedly swindled thousands of Ohioans out of more than $4 million, DeWine said.

The lawsuit claims that Cops for Kids, also known as Ohio Cops for Kids, collected over $4.2 million in donations between 2005 and 2015. DeWine's suit alleges the group spent less than 2 percent of that collection on charitable programming. Instead, the group spent the vast majority of its collections — more than $3.34 million — on Telcom Enterprises, a for-profit solicitor and salaries for Cops for Kids staffers.

"We believe the evidence will show the defendants misled donors and put their own interests above the charitable mission they claimed to support, while collecting millions of dollars from unsuspecting, generous Ohioans," DeWine said at a press conference.

Cops for Kids was founded in 2004. The group's stated mission was to raise the standard of life for Ohio kids, using education and recreational activities. The group said it worked hand-in-hand with law enforcement. Among the programs it claimed to support was a teddy bear distribution network that sent stuffed animals to police departments across Ohio. The stuffed animals were to be distributed to children at the scene of car accidents, house fires, child neglect and domestic violence incident.

Over a decade, starting in 2005, the group solicited donations from Ohioans in every county of the state. It did this with the help of Telcom. Each year, Cops for Kids collected hundreds of thousands of dollars, DeWine said.

“We believe Cops for Kids is a sham operation that has defrauded Ohioans out of millions of dollars while performing almost no legitimate charitable work," DeWine said.

Dewine's investigators say they found very little evidence of Cops for Kids providing charitable programming, "the group’s limited charitable programming primarily involved sending boxes of a few teddy bears to police departments, writing checks to other agencies, and funding some $500 college scholarships issued by other organizations."

The Attorney General wants a permanent injunction that would stop Cops for Kids' founders from soliciting donations or forming a new nonprofit in Ohio. DeWine also wants an order to dissolve Cops for Kids, distributing its assets to other charities and an order to ban Telcom from soliciting in Ohio. The lawsuit also seeks restitution, damages, and civil penalties.

“There are plenty of children’s and law enforcement groups that could use support, so to run this kind of scheme is shameful,” said. “We know that Ohioans are generous, and many will make charitable contributions, especially this time of year, but they deserve to know how and where their hard-earned dollars will be used.”

Ohio Cops for Kids did not return Patch's request for comment.

The lawsuit against the group can be found by clicking here.

Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch