Mother made 5-year-old adoptive daughter fake seizure to get donations, feds say

A Pennsylvania mother accused of pretending her daughter was seriously ill — in order to gain sympathy and reap financial reward — has been sentenced to prison.

The woman’s scheme resulted in needless medical treatment for her young child and more than $100,000 in losses for insurers, according to a March 3 news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

In one instance, the 49-year-old Dillsburg resident instructed her 5-year-old adoptive daughter to fake having a seizure while she videotaped her, officials said.

The mother then sent the video to her daughter’s doctor, providing false information about her daughter’s medical condition along with it, officials said.

Though she never actually witnessed her child experiencing a seizure, the mother told medical providers on multiple occasions that her daughter did in fact suffer from them, officials said.

An attorney for the woman could not immediately be reached for comment by McClatchy News.

Her behavior appears consistent with a mental illness known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, officials, including the woman’s defense team, said. The disorder is characterized by the fabrication of an illness in someone else in order to gain sympathy and attention.

However, the mother’s scheme also involved a strong financial incentive, officials said.

As a result of her false statements about her daughter’s health, the mother “received enhanced Medicare and adoption subsidiaries for taking care of a medically ill child, and she promoted the minor child’s purported conditions to seek donations from local organizations and through online fundraising efforts,” officials said.

The woman has been sentenced to 30 months in prison and will also be required to serve three years of supervised release, officials said. Additionally, she was ordered to pay $137,710 in restitution.

Her daughter has been removed from her care, officials said.

Dillsburg is located about 120 miles west of Philadelphia.

This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Mother made 5-year-old adoptive daughter fake seizure to get donations, feds say."