The creator of a ‘human skin’ teddy bear has seen sales spike after the product caused an arrest earlier this week.
Robert Kelly, who has been called a “satanist” by people who are not a fan of his items, recently made headlines after a customer allegedly placed one of his admittedly bizarre-looking toys outside a gas station.
Due to concerns surrounding the item’s disturbing appearance, police were called.
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Officers have since arrested and booked a suspect identified as Hector Corona Villanueva, 23.
The investigation is ongoing.
Robert, 47, has since publicly clarified that the teddy bear is actually made of latex and says he has experienced a surge in new orders.
“We have had a huge boost in sales and attention, which has been nice,” Robert, the owner of DarkSeed Creations, told Need To Know.
“Most of the attention has been positive, and I love interacting with people who are interested in our art.
“We always get the occasional religious zealot or conspiracy theorist, but we are used to that.
“In the time I have been doing this, we have had some real nut jobs accuse us from being everything from satanists to deep state lizard people.
“We just take the positive and throw out the rest.
“It’s been impactful.”
Deputies from the Victorville Police Department responded to a call at the AMPM gas station on Bear Valley Road in Victorville, California, on 13 July around 12.07 pm to concerns of a teddy bear that appeared to be made from human flesh.
On 14 July, they arrested and booked Corona Villanueva for ‘Causing the Report of an Emergency while Knowing it to be False’ and ‘Intentionally and Wrongfully Planting Evidence to Falsely Present as Real’.
Robert said: “At first, when people started calling me because they recognised it was mine, I thought it was a joke.
“It was just a snowball after that.
“Nothing like this has happened before.”
Robert, who is from Summerville, South Carolina, sells his products through his Etsy shop.
He said, “My father and I used to save time to watch ‘Tales From The Darkside’ together growing up.
“As I grew up, I got involved in haunted acting and haunted attractions.
“Making my own stuff came naturally, and I have just taught myself from there for the last 18 years.
“I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m ok with that.
“Horror people love me though!”
The Victorville police department said in a statement: “Deputies from the Victorville Police Department responded to a suspicious circumstances call at the AMPM gas station on Bear Valley Road.
“Callers indicated a teddy bear made of what looked like human flesh was left in front of the business.
Upon arriving, deputies located the teddy bear and began their investigation.
“An investigator with the San Bernardino County Coroner office responded and collected the teddy bear.
“It has been determined that the teddy bear is not made of any type of human remains or skin.
“Incidents such as this take up valuable emergency resources and put the public at risk, possibly delaying response time to legitimate calls for service.
“We would like to thank those who reported information that was helpful during the investigation of this case.”
Jam Press has contacted the Victorville Police Department for comment.
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