A 34-year-old Australian social media influencer has been accused of torturing her baby daughter and taking photos of her in “immense distress and pain” to elicit donations.
She is also accused of defrauding donors of $60,000 via GoFundMe.
The Queensland mother was arrested at Logan, south of Brisbane, on Thursday and charged with administering poison with intent to harm, making child exploitation material and fraud.
She was also charged with preparation to commit crimes with dangerous things.
Police will allege the child would have become “gravely ill” and could have died if she had stayed in the accused’s care.
Detective Inspector Dalton said the child was now “going well”.
‘Immense pain and distress’
Police allege between August 6 and October 15 last year, the woman gave medicine to her one-year-old daughter without medical approval.
They allege the woman disregarded medical advice and “went to lengths to obtain unauthorised medicines”, which included old medications prescribed to another person in the home.
It’s alleged the woman took photos and videos of her child in “immense pain and distress” to “entice monetary donations and online followers”.
Detective Inspector Dalton said police would allege the woman defrauded donors of $60,000.
“We’ve been dealing with GoFundMe and I understand through my investigators that they are making attempts to repay that money to the people … who donated that money,” he said.
Child suffered ‘medical episode’
Detective Inspector Dalton said the child was initially in hospital for a “genuine, serious health reason”.
“I think it’s important to note that the hospital staff must be extremely distressed and anxious about what happened here, and they’ve done nothing wrong at all,” he said.
“We’ll be alleging the person has done what she’s done in defiance of medical opinion.”
Police allege the woman “carefully concealed” what she was doing, until it was reported to police in October last year by medical staff at a hospital in Brisbane’s south, where the child was being treated.
Detective Inspector Dalton said the child had suffered a “medical episode”.
Detective Inspector Dalton said police took “immediate action” after the hospital staff reported their concern for the child.
He said “a lot” of other people had been investigated but “the only evidence that we can establish to the satisfaction of the court is the lady we’ve charged”.
It will be alleged tests for unauthorised medicines returned a positive result on January 7.
A GoFundMe spokesperson said the company had been in “close contact” with police during the investigation.
“Proactive refunds are being issued to all donors as part of our ongoing commitment to protecting Australian generosity,” they said.
The woman is due to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday. (ABC)