The one who was arrested for putting feces on her daughter's catheter to keep her ill? She plead guilty and got twenty years.
I found this out through facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Justice-for-Dakota-Rose/191808867501776

An Austin mother caught on camera smearing feces on her daughter's catheter was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday.
Emily McDonald pleaded guilty to charges of injury to a child. Her three-year-old daughter had been admitted to Dell Children's Medical Center in April 2009 with a high fever and a long history of chronic diarrhea.

After several setbacks, the hospital set up a hidden camera which captured McDonald smearing feces on her daughter's intravenous tube.
The little girl has since fully recovered and is now living with other family members.


I personally don't think 20 years is enough, but I suppose it's better than letting her off.

Source: http://www.kvue.com/news/Mother-caught-smearing-feces-on-daughters--119212174.html

I think this is despicable.
Obviously something is extremely wrong with her mentally.
Imho, 20 years is not enough.

I think 20 years is enough. She'll be more or less past childbearing age when she gets out, and her kids will no longer be young enough to harm. Some life sentences end up being shorter.

I agree!!! :D

"I think 20 years is enough. She'll be more or less past childbearing age when she gets out, and her kids will no longer be young enough to harm. Some life sentences end up being shorter." *to this*

20 years is DEFINATELY not enough for what she did. But at least she's not out running free.

I think that 20 years is a fair sentance. Her daughter did not die, yes she was very very sick, and yes it his horrible what she did, but some murderers get less than 20 years. I am hopeful that she will see how wrong it was to do what she did, and maybe, just maybe turn her life around. She cannot change what she did, all she can do is control her actions now.

The fact she got 20 years but won't be doing the FULL 20 is unfair... I would never keep my child sick for attention.. Its disgusting.

@fearless most people wont keep their child sick for attention, honestly it is probably a mental health issue with her. I did not know this mom, and I used to condemn all moms who were less then great to their children, until I had a severe form of PPD and almost became one of them.

I am not saying she doesnt deserve the sentance, because she does, but our Jails in America are full of the mentally ill because as a nation we decided their care in the hospital setting was not as important as it should have been. Every MONTH the county of Denver spends well over 40,000 supplying mentally ill inmates with their meds. That right there is a huge sign the system is broken.

*stepping off my soapbox now* Sorry, its just that working with the mentally ill in school has really shown me that not all people who do bad things are bad.

^ *agrees with Mindi*

I remember this idiot well - she got so much sympathy for having a sick child.

However despicable she is - this is also a recognized mental illness.

Munchausen by proxy syndrome (MBPS) is a relatively uncommon condition that involves the exaggeration or fabrication of illnesses or symptoms by a primary caretaker. One of the most harmful forms of child abuse, MBPS was named after Baron von Munchausen, an 18th-century German dignitary known for telling outlandish stories.

About MBPS
In MBPS, an individual — usually a mother — deliberately makes another person (most often his or her own preschool child) sick or convinces others that the person is sick. The parent or caregiver misleads others into thinking that the child has medical problems by lying and reporting fictitious episodes. He or she may exaggerate, fabricate, or induce symptoms. As a result, doctors usually order tests, try different types of medications, and may even hospitalize the child or perform surgery to determine the cause.

Typically, the perpetrator feels satisfied by gaining the attention and sympathy of doctors, nurses, and others who come into contact with him or her and the child. Some experts believe that it isn't just the attention that's gained from the "illness" of the child that drives this behavior, but also the satisfaction in being able to deceive individuals that they consider to be more important and powerful than themselves.

Because the parent or caregiver appears to be so caring and attentive, often no one suspects any wrongdoing. A perplexing aspect of the syndrome is the ability of the parent or caregiver to fool and manipulate doctors. Frequently, the perpetrator is familiar with the medical profession and is very good at fooling the doctors. Even the most experienced doctors can miss the meaning of the inconsistencies in the child's symptoms. It's not unusual for medical personnel to overlook the possibility of MBPS because it goes against the belief that a parent or caregiver would never deliberately hurt his or her child.

Children who are subject to MBPS are typically preschool age, although there have been reported cases in kids up to 16 years old, and there are equal numbers of boys and girls. About 98% of the perpetrators are female.

ContinueListenDiagnosing MBPSDiagnosis is very difficult, but would involve some of the following:
a child who has multiple medical problems that don't respond to treatment or that follow a persistent and puzzling coursephysical or laboratory findings that are highly unusual, don't correspond with the child's medical history, or are physically or clinically impossibleshort-term symptoms that tend to stop when the perpetrator isn't arounda parent or caregiver who isn't reassured by "good news" when test results find no medical problems, but continues to believe that the child is illa parent or caregiver who appears to be medically knowledgeable or fascinated with medical details or appears to enjoy the hospital environmenta parent or caregiver who's unusually calm in the face of serious difficulties with the child's healtha parent or caregiver who's highly supportive and encouraging of the doctor, or one who is angry and demands further intervention, more procedures, second opinions, or transfers to more sophisticated facilitiesCauses of MBPSIn some cases, the parents or caregivers themselves were abused, both physically and sexually, as children. They may have come from families in which being sick was a way to get love. The parent's or caregiver's own personal needs overcome his or her ability to see the child as a person with feelings and rights, possibly because the parent or caregiver may have grown up being treated like he or she wasn't a person with rights or feelings.
Other theories say that Munchausen by proxy syndrome is a cry for help on the part of the parent or caregiver, who may be experiencing anxiety or depression or have feelings of inadequacy as a parent or caregiver of a young child. Some may feel a sense of acknowledgement when the doctor confirms their caregiving skills. Or, the parent or caregiver may just enjoy the attention that the sick child — and, therefore, he or she — gets.

I don't think they used the MBPS argument as a part of her defence.

Just because they didn't use it, does not mean its not possible that she doesnt suffer from it.

Never said that.
Was just saying they didn't use it. To me that is a good indication that there is a high chance she DOESN'T suffer from it, however i wouldn't completely speculate that she does or does not.

I did not mean that in a snarky way, and if it came off that way I am sorry. I am not fully convinced she suffers from it either, I cannot diagnose, but I also cannot see that she *or any mother* would do this in a sane mindset.

I didn't perceive it that way, you're fine :P

I do believe she suffers from some form of mental health issue, however am not convinced it is MBPS.
I also believe that because she is clearly mentally ill that she would be better off in psychiatric care for 20 years than she would be a prison.

Thinking about it some more, her behaviour would also be in fitting with a personality disorder. However, personality disorders are mental disorders but not mental illnesses, and therefore they also cannot be used as a defence in court. Also, people with personality disorders generally gain little benefit from long inpatient stays in psychiatric hospitals as it reinforces the sick role and the belief they can blame their choices on their disorder (they legitimately can't, because they also know right from wrong and know what they are doing, but personality disorder patients are often very poor at taking responsibility for their own actions). Psychiatric medication is also of little help in people with personality disorders. The only thing which does help is psychological therapies, but that is not enough to require the need to be in hospital.

@RedFraggle I have a hard time seeing the difference between a personality vs behavior disorder. I took Psychology last semester but we didn't touch a lot on the differences.

It can't be used as a defence, even if she does have MBPS.

I agree it does sound like Munchausen by proxy. However, MBPS is a behavioral disorder NOT a mental illness. And as such it is not accepted as a defence in court.

From WikipediA:

MSBP/FII/FDBP is not a mental disorder (i.e., not defined as such in DSM IV), and the evidence of a psychiatrist should not therefore be admissible;
MSBP/FII/FDBP has been stated to be a behavior describing a form of child abuse and not a medical diagnosis of either a parent or a child. A medical practitioner cannot therefore state that a person "suffers" from MSBP/FII/FDBP, and such evidence should also therefore be inadmissible. The evidence of a medical practitioner should be confined to what they observed and heard and what forensic information was found by recognized medical investigative procedures;

I do not think it is right that this woman and her deliberate and KNOWING attempts to harm her child should be compared to the actions of people who are really mentally unwell, and whom commit crimes as a result (for example people suffering from schizophrenia or severe depression who may be delusional/psychotic at the time). People with MBPS know EXACTLY what they are doing, they know it is wrong, and they know they are causing harm, and they CHOOSE to do it anyway. Therefore they deserve the appropriate punishment.

Well I wasnt sure if it WAS classified as a mental illness or behavioural issues - the way she has behaved just sounded textbook.

And I definatelty dont believe it should be used as a defence for her either. She knew she was doing the wrong thing and continued to risk her childs life. She belongs in general population. With prisoners who dont like people who hurt children.

I agree with RedFraggle. MBPS is a personality disorder, not a chemical disorder in the brain that she could not help. If we gave sympathy to those with personality disorders than it would include serial killers that are sociopaths. She knew what she was doing was wrong & she didn't care as long as she got what she wanted out of the deal.

MBPS actually isn't a personality disorder. It is not listed as a personality disorder in the DSM diagnosticv criteria.

(Mostly from Wikipedia)

Personality disorders are defined as " "an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the culture of the individual who exhibits it"....

These behavioral patterns in personality disorders are typically associated with severe disturbances in the behavioral tendencies of an individual, usually involving several areas of the personality, and are nearly always associated with considerable personal and social disruption. Additionally, personality disorders are inflexible and pervasive across many situations, due in large part to the fact that such behavior is ego-syntonic (i.e. the patterns are consistent with the ego integrity of the individual) and are, therefore, perceived to be appropriate by that individual. This behavior can result in the client adopting maladaptive coping skills, which may lead to personal problems that induce extreme anxiety, distress and depression in clients....

The onset of these patterns of behavior can typically be traced back to late adolescence and the beginning of adulthood and, in rarer instances, childhood

So it goes beyond a simple behavioral problem. And usually develops during adolescence, which MBPS does not.

Examples of personality disorders are borderline, antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic and schizoid. MBPS is not.

Sorry, I'd explain this better but I need to go to work!

@~*Pagan*~ : Thank you for explaining the illness.

I remember a lady that claimed her daughter had cancer, went as far as to shave her head & all. I can't seem to find the story, though. :(

I think we should be absolutely clear on this... MBPS is NOT an illness.