Juan Andrade and Jason St. Aubin were arrested in Illinois last week and brought to Mississippi to face kidnapping charges after making contact with the boy on a gamer chat app. Police found the boy in Illinois with St. Aubin.
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But Andrade's mother, Bridgett Sixto, said the men are innocent.
"I do not believe that what they're being charged with is fair or right," she said.
Sixto said the men thought they were helping a man escape an abusive relationship.
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"Several people that have come forward and saying 'No, no no. This wasn't a kidnapping. This boy portrayed himself as a 20-year-old man,'" she said. "Oh, God. My son, there was no kidnapping at all. That boy came of his own accord. He contacted Jason to come and pick him up."
The boy's father told a different story, saying that his son thought he was saving at least one of the two men from committing suicide.
Andrade and St. Auben will appear in court in Mississippi on Tuesday.