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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke December 6, 2022

Photo shows Schiff’s ‘Little Brother,’ not a child he killed

If Your Time is short

  • The boy in this photo, taken in the 1980s, was paired with Rep. Adam Schiff as part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America mentoring program. The two became lifelong friends. Schiff didn’t kill the child. 
 

An old photo of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., shows the congressman in overalls, his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a boy. Both are smiling at the camera. But a recent Instagram post suggests that Schiff killed the child. 

"Justice for that little boy he killed," text above the photo says. "That’s right can’t hide anymore. Adam Schiff is a known pedophile, he settled out of court numerous times for sex crimes (indecent liberties) of male minors one as young as 11, court documents are sealed but won’t be for long, look it up!"" 

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

A reverse image search of the photo shows that Schiff tweeted it in February 2017, encouraging people to participate in youth mentoring with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organization.

"Love this old photo of me and my Little Brother David from the 1980’s," Schiff tweeted. "#BeAMentor like I was for @BBBSLA — it’s life-changing!" 

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David McMillan, a writer and filmmaker based n in Los Angeles, is the boy in the photo, and he wasn’t killed. In fact, he replied to Schiff on Twitter: "Love this photo! We were both so young!! And yes, be a mentor! It changes lives — it certainly changed mine!" 

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In a 2017 profile of Schiff in the Jewish Journal, McMillan spoke positively about their relationship and provided the publication with a more recent photo of the "lifelong friends." 

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In April, McMillan posted a photo of himself and Schiff on Instagram, writing, "So proud to call him my brother."

Baseless claims that Schiff is a pedophile have circulated online for several years. In 2019, we debunked a claim that he used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim, a rumor we traced back to a junk news website featuring a fabricated interview and unsourced social media posts. 

We rate claims that this photo shows Schiff with a boy he killed Pants on Fire!

 

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Photo shows Schiff’s ‘Little Brother,’ not a child he killed

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