10-year-old Texas girl’s claim that bullies chopped her hair turns out to be a hoax

09 October 2025

When 10-year-old Taylor Castillo’s mother posted an emotional TikTok video alleging that bullies had snuck onto a school bus and chopped off her daughter’s hair while she slept, the post struck a chord across social media, drawing waves of support and outrage. Andie Rae Castillo’s video expressed anguish and a determination to hold the school accountable. She shared images showing her daughter with notably shorter hair and decried the alleged act as beyond bullying.

But what appeared to be a straightforward and heartbreaking case of school assault gradually unraveled under scrutiny. Compass Rose Public Schools responded by launching an internal investigation. They reviewed hours of school bus security footage and interviewed staff and students. Their conclusion: the incident never happened. No misconduct or bullying involving hair cutting was verified. The school issued a statement saying that false information had been shared and that the evidence contradicted the mother’s version of events.

Faced with the school’s findings, Andie Castillo made a follow-up video. She acknowledged that her daughter had admitted she lied about the bullying claim. She stated that her daughter had apologized privately to those involved, but she declined to force her to issue a public apology as the school principal had requested. In her posts, the mother stood by her desire to protect her child while also expressing frustration at being asked for more than a private apology.

In defending the original allegation, Castillo had described her daughter as a gentle, sweet child who did not deserve to be treated this way. She claimed that the alleged “bullying situation” had involved multiple kids over three years, and that the school system had ignored it. She posted that she would be “raising hell at that school” to demand accountability.

However, school officials countered that there was no recorded pattern of ongoing bullying against Taylor. They said that the only documented incident involved a drinking cup, which had been addressed at the time. The school underscored that they found no evidence of hair cutting or physical assault as described in the mother’s original post.

As the narrative shifted, the conversation turned not only to the incident itself but also to the pressures and consequences of social media amplifications. In many cases, these online stories can stir public judgment before full facts emerge. Here, the initial viral reaction demonstrated how swiftly anguish and outrage can spread particularly when claims involve children, schools, and violence.

For Taylor, the fallout is fraught. She faces bruised credibility, emotional complexity, and the awareness that what was presented as a victim narrative has now been recast as a false claim. For her mother, the public pivot from advocate to retractor brings a painful reckoning over how to balance protective instincts with accountability.

This case also reflects larger questions about how institutions respond when accusations go viral. Schools must tread carefully between transparency, protecting students, and ensuring rigorous investigation. The shift from frontline defense to debunking indicates how delicate and risky this terrain can be especially when social media magnifies every claim instantly.

In communities across the country, similar stories swirl: assertions of mistreatment, viral sympathy, then reversal or confirmation through investigative diligence. The Taylor Castillo case is a stark portrait of how modern parenting, social platforms, and institutional responsibility collide. The rush to believe is powerful; verifying claims is harder, and when conclusions change, the reputational damage can linger.