Nelson mother sentenced to six years for medical abuse of child
The woman, who kept her child hospitalized for over a year with deliberate infections, received a six-year prison term after a jury found her guilty of ill-treatment.
By Lorenzo Patterson ·
A mother in Nelson has been sentenced to six years in prison for deliberately infecting her child and causing prolonged medical abuse.
The woman, whose identity was suppressed, stood before the High Court on Monday for sentencing after a jury found her guilty earlier this year. She was convicted on four charges of ill-treatment of a child and three charges of infecting with disease.
The court heard that the child, who was an infant and toddler during the period of offending, experienced a year of severe health complications. The mother presented the child with symptoms of a gastrointestinal disorder and claimed the child could not eat by usual means.
Justice Lisa Preston detailed the extensive medical intervention the child underwent between 2019 and 2020. The youngster was hospitalized 28 times, underwent 13 operations, including exploratory procedures, and had 44 imaging scans and 1,038 laboratory tests performed.
Doctors and nurses at multiple hospitals could not identify the cause of the child’s poor health. The issue was later determined to be the mother’s exaggeration and fabrication of symptoms, as well as her tampering with the child’s medical equipment.
The mother caused an infection in the child’s peripherally inserted central catheter. While the child was in a pediatric intensive care unit in a life-threatening condition, staff observed the mother with her hands under the child’s blanket. She was seen gripping the child’s upper leg and shoulder, leaving red marks.
On another occasion, the mother was seen handling a connector on the child’s central line before throwing a syringe into a bag near her feet. A nurse discovered the syringe in the bag. The mother later sent a message stating, “Every medical mother has a syringe.”
After the child was removed from the mother’s care, the youngster made a rapid recovery. Justice Preston noted that the child resumed eating within weeks, gained weight consistently, and no longer suffered mishaps with medical equipment. The child’s anemia also resolved without further transfusions.
The mother continued to deny the offending during the sentencing hearing. Family members described her as a caring and attentive model mother. A pre-sentence report suggested her behavior may be consistent with factitious disorder imposed on another, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The woman declined to undergo a psychiatric assessment as ordered by the judge.
Justice Preston considered the Crown’s request for a starting point of eight years and the defense’s argument for seven years and six months. The defense had argued the woman was a hyper-vigilant mother of a medically vulnerable child. The judge accepted that the mother had previous good character and allowed a 5% credit for the possibility of the disorder.
The judge also provided a 15% discount for the impact incarceration would have on the mother’s other child. She did not allow a discount for the impact on the child who was the victim of the abuse. The sentencing judge cited the prolonged nature of the offending, the premeditation, and the high cost to the public health system as aggravating factors.
The mother, who was sobbing throughout the hearing, broke down in tears as Corrections staff led her away to begin her sentence.
