By Lana Lam, Sydney u2014 BBC News
An Australian mother who faked her six-year-old sonu2019s cancer diagnosis to solicit donations and fund her lavish lifestyle has been sentenced to more than four years in prison.
The 45-year-old from South Australia shaved her sonu2019s head and eyebrows, bandaged his head and hands, and medicated him as part of a ruse to trick family and friends into raising thousands of dollars.
The woman u2014 who cannot be named for legal reasons u2014 pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in acts likely to cause harm to her son and 10 counts of deception. At a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, a District Court judge described her actions as u201ccruelu201d, u201ccalculatedu201d and u201cmanipulativeu201d.
The womanu2019s deception started after her son went to see an ophthalmologist, a specialist eye doctor, after an accident, the court heard. After that appointment, she told her husband, family, friends and her school community that her son had eye cancer.
She forced her son to use a wheelchair and limited his daily activities to make people think he was receiving radiation treatment. She also gave him pain relief and health supplements, local media have reported.
In court, the prosecution said that the mother had u201cselfishly used her son as a prop to deceiveu201d loved ones and the wider community, then used donations so the family could live u201cthe life of the rich and famousu201d.
The womanu2019s lawyer said she had developed a gambling addiction after the Covid-19 pandemic and u201ccapitalisedu201d on her sonu2019s accident, but that she never meant to hurt him or the family. Rather, the mother-of-two had made a u201cmonumental and grave lapse in judgement to selfishly ease her financial stressu201d, her lawyer told the court.
They said the woman had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and accepted her wrongdoing by pleading guilty. u201cShe regrettably spent more than her earnings allowed and was living beyond her means,u201d her lawyer said, with a u201cfoolish and misguidedu201d belief her family needed u201cthe latest brandsu201d.
Her husband was initially charged but police later dropped the case against him. In his victim impact statement, he said his wife had u201cdestroyed me and my childrenu2019s livesu201d.
u201cI had complete trust in you as my wife and I never doubted you. I was devoted to our family. Now I feel like a pawn in a chess game.u201d
Outside court, the husband told media that u201cno sentence can ever justify what has been done to my childrenu201d, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The woman was sentenced to four years and three months in prison, but will be eligible for parole next April.