Kansas City, Mo. ? A couple who reported delivering a set of sextuplets – when really they gave birth only to an elaborate lie – apologized Wednesday for a scheme aimed at tapping neighbors’ generosity.

Sarah and Kris Everson, of Grain Valley, initially were unapologetic, but later a teary-eyed Sarah Everson faced reporters in the driveway of her home.

“We’re sorry for everything we did,” she said.

Her husband, Kris Everson, called the public attention and police investigation “very stressful” and vowed to pay back those who sent money or other items.

“We didn’t mean to hurt anybody,” he said. “We did it out of financial reasons.”

The couple could face criminal charges for collecting cash and other gifts after going public with their amazing story of six newborn babies clinging to life. Police were still investigating a day after the Eversons admitted the hoax and said they were unsure how much help the couple received.

Grain Valley Police Chief Aaron Ambrose said detectives would seek records on donations made through a bank fund set up for the Eversons, a post office box established to receive mailed gifts and an online PayPal account that allowed visitors to the couple’s Web site to give money.

“We want to make sure it’s a thorough investigation and all of our areas are covered,” Ambrose said.

The site set up for the so-called Everson Six sought gifts of cash and gift certificates as well as a van, washer and dryer. A real estate agent was even working to find the family a new, bigger home.

The couple had help from local residents, including a Chamber of Commerce president, but Gary Bradley, the city administrator in Grain Valley, said no one aside from the Eversons was suspected of wrongdoing.

As the couple told it, 45-year-old Sarah Everson’s pregnancy came as a surprise discovered during a routine doctor’s appointment. As time passed, she said doctors kept finding more babies.

The births were said to have happened March 8, but the Eversons said they kept it hush because of a family dispute in which their lives, and those of their babies, were threatened. They claimed a court order kept the story from being leaked.