Mum influencer who allegedly gave daughter, one, drugs and caused her to have cardiac arrest has been bailed
A mum influencer who has been charged with torture following allegations she faked her one-year-old daughter’s brain tumour has been granted bail.
The 34-year-old allegedly gave her baby multiple drugs that led to a cardiac arrest and manufactured symptoms that caused unnecessary brain surgery as part of a plan to gain fame and money online, a magistrate has heard.
The mum-of-four, from Queensland, Australia, who cannot be named for legal reasons, first told her fans about her toddler daughter’s illness in June, and launched a GoFundMe page to ask for financial help while she allegedly underwent treatment.
Since then, the page had raised $62,000 (around £48,000). But, questions were raised in October 2024 when hospital workers informed police that the mum’s online updates about the child's surgery didn't match her real treatment. In November, the little girl was taken into care while her mother was questioned by police about the allegations. Then, earlier this month she was charged with torture after it was found she poisoned her baby girl to elicit donations and boost online followers. The child has been taken in to care.
Queensland police have accused the woman of filming the torture of her one-year-old little girl after giving her drugs to worsen the symptoms. The woman applied for bail in Brisbane magistrates court yesterday, (Tuesday January 28), after she was arrested and charged with a string of offences earlier this month.
The charges against her include five counts of administering poison with intent to harm, three counts of preparation to commit crimes with dangerous things and one count each of torture, making child exploitation material and fraud. The application for bail was granted earlier today (Wednesday January 29).
Crown prosecutor Jack Scott previously told the court that the woman did not accept that her infant had a manageable and non-fatal condition. “Her actions have created a serious extra symptom . . . on one occasion a code blue cardiac arrest requiring resuscitation,” he alleged, as reported by The Guardian.
The court heard the tot had been hospitalised for tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a genetic condition that results in benign tumours in multiple organs. Scott said on October 3 2024 the woman had moved a video camera that was monitoring the infant during a brain activity test “to avoid detection” of her actions. “She was captured on footage with a syringe. She administered via the nasogastric tube [attached to her daughter]. She used the opportunity while hidden by a blanket. About 30 to 40 minutes after this incident [the baby] was rendered completely unconscious,” he said.
He added that the little girl was “rendered totally unconscious” shortly after her mum gave her medication which was not prescribed to her in a way that could not be explained by “any known condition” she was suffering from. Scott said these unconscious periods were not symptoms of TSC and, as they were deeply concerning to the the child’s doctors, they then brought forward a risky procedure to remove the tumours.
“The prosecution case is, in essence, that she was torturing her own child with the administering of non-prescribed medicines,” Scott added. The prosecutor went on to explain that the child exploitation material charge against the woman related to videos allegedly found on the woman’s phone and she had caused life-threatening complications. “This child would not have faced [two rounds of brain] surgeries at this point in time but for this manufacturing of symptoms,” he said.
Police allege the poisoning occurred between August 6 and October 15 last year, when the woman is accused of administering several unauthorised prescription and pharmacy medicines to the one-year-old girl. Authorities also claim the woman posted videos of the child in “immense distress and pain” and used the online content to “entice monetary donations and online followers”.
Scott had opposed a bail application for the woman and told Magistrate Stephen Courtney the woman posed an unacceptable risk of offending or interfering with witnesses if released. He also argued that the accused had determination “to see out” her perception that the child suffers from a fatal illness, and so there was a risk she would continue to “manufacture” medical symptoms that had stopped since the child had been taken into care, including unconsciousness, lethargy, floppiness and vomiting.
Defence lawyer Mathew Cuskelly sought bail on a number of “strict conditions”, however, and said that he said would ameliorate any risk to the child, including residency and reporting conditions, and added that his client’s contact with the child be limited to supervised, audio visual contact and also that she would not be able to contact any relatives who may be witnesses.
He argued the case against the woman is largely circumstantial and that the complexity of the case meant his client may not face trial for a considerable amount of time, with the magistrate agreeing it was “not inconceivable” that that may not occur for “two or three years”.
Courtney had requested time to consider whether or not bail could be granted. Today, he decided it could be, as reported by The Guardian. “I must say I’ve wrestled with this,” the magistrate said. “No bail is completely risk-free, but I’m satisfied that the risk is sufficiently mitigated, otherwise I wouldn’t have done what I have done.”
He ruled that a member of the child safety department must supervise any audiovisual contact with the alleged victim and any in-person contact with her other children. The woman will also only be allowed contact with the alleged victim’s father, her then partner, via a lawyer.
Courtney also spoke directly to the acussed and warned her: “You understand that any suggestion, any hint, of these conditions being breached, you’ll be sitting in custody, I would have thought for a couple of years, pending your trial?” “Absolutely,” she responded. “Understood”.
Police previously said the people behind GoFundMe are attempting to repay all those who donated to the woman’s page. The mum’s social media account appears to have been taken down, as does the GoFundMe page.
The accused next committal mention is scheduled forMonday February 17.