A $5,000 social media fundraiser for a woman charged with child abuse has drawn ire from multiple residents.
“You know this is pathetic,” one woman posted on GoFundMe.com. “And so is she.”
Launched on behalf of Holly Hartman on Thursday, Dec. 17, the GoFundMe.com campaign seeks $5,000 to help pay for a divorce attorney. Hartman, also known as Holly Cogburn, is in Montezuma County jail awaiting trial on a child abuse charge.
“Well anybody that knows Holly Hartman knows that she is an awesome mom and a beautiful person thru and thru,” the site proclaims.
The campaign further outlines that since Hartman, a mother of two, has been held in custody without bond, an ex-husband has been attempting to keep the “supermom from raising her boys.”
“We have an excellent attorney ready to fight and deliver the justice that this mom and more importantly these two boys deserve,” the site states.
The online response has been critical. Despite raising less than $100 from four donors in the first day, eight others had posted on the campaign page as of Friday warning people not to contribute.
“Do not donate to this person without learning the real story,” one woman posted. “She has created this misery and inflicted it on her babies.”
“This was made by her boyfriend,” another woman commented. “She doesn’t deserve help.”
Other posts alluded to Cogburn’s initial arrest at a party on Aug. 29.
According to police, partygoers asked Cogburn about the 2-year-old unattended inside a vehicle. Police called a social worker to the scene after finding the child strapped into a car seat that was soaked in urine.
Another GoFundMe comment remarked that Cogburn’s boyfriend was recently accused of mailing marijuana to her while in custody.
On Nov. 17, a Montezuma County jailor reported that he found a “suspicious green leafy substance” inside an envelope addressed to Cogburn, 30, of Cortez. Marijuana could be smelled coming from the envelope, authorities said.
The suspicious package was reportedly sent from a 44-year-old Durango man.
In custody after failure to comply with bond conditions, Cogburn was initially charged with child abuse stemming from the August incident. She’s also being held for failure to appear in Michigan, according to jail records.
According to the GoFundMe campaign page, Cogburn’s trial date on the child abuse charge is set for Jan. 27.
