Ontario Man Arrested For Telling Kids Santa Doesn’t Exist

Spoiler Alert: Santa Claus isn’t real. But be careful who you tell. An Ontario man was arrested for telling kids that there is no Santa Claus.

He also happened to be drunk at the time.

The Kingston man was taken into police custody after allegedly walking along a Christmas parade route telling children that Santa Claus is make believe. He was busted for public intoxication. Apparently, his intoxication was evident, as “his hair was formed to look like horns that were protruding from his head.”

The 24-year-old man was also charged with causing a disturbance by being drunk, as well as breaching probation, 24 Hour Vancouver reports.

Local police have dubbed the offender “The Anti-Santa.”

He was held overnight and attended a bail hearing Sunday.

Despite humbuggers like the one arrested Saturday, Santa Claus has survived to be one of America’s most enduring traditions.

Kimberly Schiller, 25, of Levittown, NY, believed in Santa until she was 13, 5 years beyond the average. The average child gives up on Santa around age 8. About 15 percent hold on until over the age of ten. Schiller says that Santa was a comfort to her after her dad left home when she was 12. “So I was kind of holding on to that last bit of childhood,” she said.

“I teach 13-year-olds now,” she went on. “They are just so jaded. They always want stuff. It’s kind of sad that they don’t believe anymore.”

Wendy Ross, 50, from Kings City, Calif., said she gave up her Santa belief when she was about 5, but that didn’t spoil Christmas for her. “The only thing that spoiled the holidays for me was me. I threw a fit if I didn’t get what I wanted.” Ross is now the mother of three grown children, and says that she raised her kids to focus their holiday on Jesus, with Santa as a mere symbol of giving. Now she fears Santa has become just a symbol of “superheated commercialism.”

Kentucky grandfather Ron Montgomery calls himself a Santa believer to this day.

“It’s the whole atmosphere,” he said. “Santa Claus is the spirit. The trees, the church, the whole works. You actually see more of your neighbors. It’s a feeling. It’s not like a ghost. It’s an attitude.”

Did you believe in Santa as a child?