BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay City couple police say were engaged to be married at Walmart and then suspected of stealing some sex toys from a nearby business briefly launched an online campaign, hoping to cash in on their notoriety to fund their wedding.

The account on GoFundMe.com was created by the woman -- arrested with fiance William J. Cornelius Jr. -- on Saturday, Jan. 9. The campaign had a stated goal of $10,000.

"Yes we are the sex toy bandits," the post stated. "We are real people with real problems. We need help raising money for our wedding because i am currently pregnant and homeless we do not want our baby born out of wedlock. Anything will help thank you for taking the time to read our story and thank you in advance for the help"

By 1 p.m. Sunday, the campaign had been deleted. It had garnered no donations, but had received approximately 60 comments criticizing the woman for creating the page.

"The campaign in question was removed for a violation of our Terms & Conditions," said Kelsea Little, media director for GoFundMe.

Cornelius, on his Facebook page, stated on Jan. 9, "Well the sex toy bandits out anyone know how i can make money off this trying to get this wedding popping its gonna be at the dollar tree so if u want to help with funds or just want to hate shoot me a msg me and the wife"

Neither Cornelius nor his fiancee immediately responded to requests for comment on the page.

Mike Serour, the founder of Bay City Neighborhood Alliance, a group that looks to lend a helping hand through outreach and projects, said he received three messages from friends and relatives of the couple seeking donations and help organizing a fundraising benefit for their wedding.

"I turned them down and told them that's not what we do," Serour said. He said he did provide information on rehabilitation facilities and mental health groups, though.

"Welcome to life," he said. "It's such a weird story, but at the same time, it doesn't surprise me in today's world. We hope they get the help they need, not the help they want. I don't want to see any human being suffer, but that's something we can't do. There are families who lost their Christmases in house fires. Those are the people we help -- people who are truly in need."

Cornelius, 25, on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 30, went to the Walmart at 3921 Wilder Road in Bangor Township with the 20-year-old woman. He bought her a ring for $29.62, then asked a customer service worker to read a proposal note over the public address system, asking her to marry him, according to police reports. Staff provided Bay County sheriff's deputies with surveillance camera footage showing the event, with Cornelius and the woman hugging and kissing as people stand around them and applaud, court records show.

The couple then went to Spencer's Gifts inside the Bay City Mall at 4101 E. Wilder Road, where deputies allege they stole a watch, an edible thong, a sex toy, panties and sex candy valued at $80.93, police reports show.

The couple fled the store prior to deputies' arrival. Deputies found the woman walking between Bob Evans and Taco Bell, followed by a Spencer's employee. In her possession were a pair of gold earrings and a silver necklace with a star pendant, apparently stolen from Walmart, police records show.

Deputies found Cornelius in the mall's food court, asleep at a table with the laces of his shoes between his fingers, records show. They found the purloined Spencer's items on him, records show.

At the Bay County Jail, the woman told deputies the necklace and earrings were stolen, but she denied being the thief, adding she would not snitch on Cornelius. She later changed her mind to say Cornelius was the culprit, police records show.

Cornelius told deputies he took the jewelry and the items from Spencer's, as he was feeling brash as he had been given Tramadol, a narcotic-like pain reliever, in a recent hospital visit, court records show.

The couple spent their New Year's Eve in the Bay County Jail. Bay County District Judge Mark E. Janer on Tuesday, Jan. 5, arraigned Cornelius on one count of third-degree retail fraud. The charge is punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a fine of $500 or three times the value of the property stolen. Janer released Cornelius on a personal recognizance bond.

The woman posted bond Tuesday morning, Jan. 5. She was arraigned Jan. 4 on a misdemeanor count of larceny less than $200 stemming from an unrelated theft of a cellphone from private residence on Sept. 16, court records show. The woman has not been arraigned on charges related to the Dec. 30 incidents. Bay County Prosecutor Kurt C. Asbury said his office is awaiting reports from the sheriff's office before deciding whether to issue charges against her.

Both Cornelius' and the woman's cases are scheduled for a pretrial conference on Friday, Jan. 29.

Cornelius was on probation at the time of the thefts, having been sentenced by a Bay County judge in November 2014 to three years of it on a conviction of ethnic intimidation. In August 2014, Cornelius and cousin Joshua M. Christe were drinking on the porch of their Bay City home when they attacked three black men who were walking by, court records show.