UPDATE | Man charged with making false statements after abuse claim

CINCINNATI (AP) — A 23-year-old ex-convict accused of pulling a cruel hoax by pretending to be a long-missing Illinois boy was charged today with making false statements to authorities.

The FBI said the suspect had twice before made similar claims in which he falsely portrayed himself as a juvenile sex trafficking victim.

Brian Rini of Medina, Ohio, was jailed in Cincinnati on Thursday, a day after he identified himself to authorities as Timmothy Pitzen, who disappeared in 2011 at age 6. The FBI declared Rini's story a hoax based on DNA testing.

The charge against Rini should send a message about the damage that making such false claims can do, said Benjamin Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.

"It's not OK to do it because of the harm that it causes, the pain, for the family of that missing child," Glassman said.

Glassman said authorities were skeptical early on of Rini's claim because he refused to be fingerprinted.

More than 50 law-enforcement and public health officials helped in the investigation, said Robert Brown, the FBI agent over the Louisville office.

"While this is not the results we had hoped for, the outpouring of victim, law enforcement and community support gives everyone hope that we'll find Timmothy," Brown said.

Rini appeared briefly in federal court Friday morning where the charges were explained to him. A detention hearing was set for Tuesday. A message was left with his public defender seeking comment.

Rini was found Wednesday in Newport, Ky., "wandering the street and looking confused and in need of assistance," according to the six-page affidavit from FBI agent Mary Braun.

9:22 a.m.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A day of false hope has given way to questions about why a man would claim to be an Illinois boy who disappeared eight years ago.

The FBI declared the man's story a hoax Thursday one day after he identified himself to authorities as Timmothy Pitzen, who disappeared in 2011 at age 6.

The U.S. attorney's office in Cincinnati scheduled a Friday news conference on the case. Brian Rini of Medina, Ohio, was jailed in Cincinnati on Thursday. The FBI has identified Rini as the person who claimed to be the Pitzen boy. A Hamilton County sheriff's spokesman said today he is being held for pickup by the FBI.

The 23-year-old man was released from prison on probation less than a month ago after serving more than a year for burglary and vandalism.

The man was found Wednesday wandering the streets of Newport, Kentucky. He identified himself to authorities as Timmothy and said he had escaped from two men who held him captive for seven years.

Timmothy's family had been cautiously hopeful over Wednesday's news, as were neighbors and others who'd long wondered whether he is dead or alive.

But the FBI said DNA testing proved his story false, dashing hopes that the baffling disappearance of Timmothy had finally been solved.

Authorities did not say whether Rini would face charges over the alleged hoax or what his motive was.

"Law enforcement has not and will not forget Timmothy, and we hope to one day reunite him with his family. Unfortunately, that day will not be today," FBI spokesman Timothy Beam said in a statement Thursday.