Fact Check

Did a Teen Boy Die After Pleasuring Himself 46 Times?

Images from a fatal shooting in Detroit were used to accompany a report that a teenaged boy died of "orgasmic shock."

Published April 20, 2017

 (Jenov Jenovallen / Shutterstock.com)
Image Via Jenov Jenovallen / Shutterstock.com
Claim:
A teen boy died of "orgasmic shock" after masturbating 46 times in a row.

In April 2017, the Now44News website reworked a years-old legend into an article reporting that a teen boy had died of "orgasmic shock" immediately after masturbating 46 times in a row:

Jerome Carpenter was found dead in his bedroom after apparently masturbating too much. It is speculated that Jerome was suffering from depression due to being “extremely lonely” and not getting no P*ssy for 3 days.

Jerome’s Mother called Portland police after discovering his corpse in his room. Jerome’s mother told Now44News reporters “1 hour passed since I had called him down for lunch, Jerome was the kind of boy to steal food off your plate when you were not looking, i knew something was wrong when he didn’t come down to eat, he was a great kid” she finished as she began to cry.

Like similar dubious claims, the story had plenty of holes (such as the question of precisely how anyone might have known how many times the boy pleasured himself before suddenly expiring). Now44News appeared to be a newer version of the known hoax purveyor website Now8News, with an identical interface and similar style of content.

Like Now8News, Now44News used a photograph from an unrelated crime scene taken in Detroit in 2013. The snapshot showed the aftermath of a fatal shooting and had no connection to any masturbation-related death.

The story was revived several years later with the publication of a variant titled "Teen Masturbated 56 Times Straight Before Dying of Heart Attack" on the website Huzlers, which describes itself as "a Chicago based satirical news blog that focuses on celebrities, hip hop and urban entertainment."

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.

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