Was a 38-year-old priest named Julian McMillan arrested in Boston for coating the hosts in his church with drugs? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Canadian site that makes up tales about bizarre crimes and sex acts for entertainment purposes. It did not happen for real.
The story originated from an article published by World News Daily Report on July 27, 2018 titled "Boston pastor accused of coating hosts with cocaine, crystal meth before service" (archived here) which opened:
Boston, MA | A Dorchester pastor was arrested on drug possession charges after Boston police said they found cocaine, crystal meth, fentanyl, and 50 oxycodone pills inside the Grace Fellowship Church.
Police believe Pastor Julian McMillan, 38, lured homeless people and drug addicts into his church by coating hosts with a mixture of cocaine, crystal meth, fentanyl, and oxycodone.
Carney Hospital staff became suspicious after two church members, one 88-year-old man and a 10-year-old girl, overdosed on fentanyl the same day and warned police.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail and may have mistaken it for actual news:
Boston pastor accused of coating hosts with cocaine, crystal meth before service
Boston, MA | A Dorchester pastor was arrested on drug possession charges after Boston police said they found cocaine, crystal meth, fentanyl, and 50 oxycodone pills inside the Grace Fellowship Church. Police believe Pastor Julian McMillan, 38, lured homeless people and drug addicts into his church
The supposed photo of the pastor has been circulating for years on various websites showing before and after photos of drug addicts. Here is an example of a gallery featuring the image:
Before/after pics show addiction reality
A DRUG charity has released a harrowing series of photos to show the horrifying effects drug addiction has on a user's face. The shocking mugshots, taken at various stages in the addicts' lives, show dramatic changes in their looks in just a few years.
The website World News Daily Report is a well known satire website specialized in posting hoaxes and made up stories. The disclaimer on their website is pretty clear about that even though you have to scroll all the way down the page to find it:
World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website - even those based on real people - are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.
It is run by Janick Murray-Hall and Olivier Legault, who also run the satirical Journal de Mourréal, a satirical site spoofing the (real) Journal de Montéal. Very often their stories feature an image showing a random crazy mugshot found in a mugshot gallery on the internet or on a stock photo website superimposed over a background of flashing police lights or crime scene tape.
Articles from the site are frequently copied (sometimes even months or years later) by varous fake news websites that omit the satire disclaimer and present the information as real.
We wrote about worldnewsdailyreport.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Reality Show Contestants NOT Rescued After 5 Years On A Deserted Island
- Fake News: Teen On 'Female Viagra' Did NOT Crash Into Building While Masturbating To Gear Shift
- Fake News: Florida Babysitter Did NOT Tie Crying One-month-old Baby To Ceiling Fan For 26 Hours
- Fake News: Colorado Man Did NOT Claim He Was Held 2 Weeks As A Sex Slave By A Grizzly Bear
- Fake News: Allergic Man NOT Rushed To Hospital; Girlfriend Did NOT Spread Peanut Butter On Vagina
