Florida Woman Sentenced to 3 Years for Fraudulent Camp Mystic Donation Scheme

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A Florida woman has been sentenced to three years in a Texas prison after pleading guilty to an online fundraising scheme that exploited families affected by the deadly 2025 Camp Mystic flooding.

According to Harris County Constable Precinct 1, 29-year-old Maitlin White posed as relatives of Camp Mystic victims to solicit donations through GoFundMe and other online fundraising platforms.

The fraudulent campaign centered on the aftermath of the July 2025 flash flooding that devastated Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp on the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas.

The flooding claimed the lives of 27 campers and counselors, including 25 girls, two teenage counselors and the camp’s longtime director and co-owner, Dick Eastland, who died while attempting to rescue campers.

Investigators said White specifically exploited the tragedy by impersonating the family of victim Chloe Childress in an effort to collect fraudulent donations.

“It is inexcusable how she sought to prey on the emotions of our community and abused the family of Chloe Childress who have endured an unimaginable tragedy,” Harris County Constable Precinct 1 Alan Rosen said in a statement. “Let this be a warning to anyone else who ever seeks to engage in such schemes in the future.”

White was charged with two third-degree felony offenses following an investigation by detectives with the Harris County Constable Precinct 1 Office.

Authorities said she was located and arrested in Florida by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force before being returned to Texas to face prosecution.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.