Advocates in Tarrant County are pushing a new Texas law to finally criminalize medical child abuse, commonly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. If the law is passed, Texas will be the country's first state to have this.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a surfacing "serious form of child abuse," as stated by the National Library of Medicine. Unfortunately, perpetrators of this medical child abuse, usually the parents of the children themselves, cannot be felonized due to an absence of a law against it in America.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy, now also called factitious disorder imposed upon another and fabricated or induced illness by carers, is a mental disorder in which a caretaker, mostly and usually the mothers, though there have already been reports pointing to fathers, intentionally lies about producing illness and its causes to their own children and getting satisfaction from their children obtaining unnecessary medical care and procedures. The victims are usually below six years old.
Cases under this disorder remain undiagnosed, resulting in unnecessary check-ups and hospitalization, resulting in victims getting real diseases or, worse, even dying.
Twenty-seven-year-old Jordyn Hope, a victim of her mother, did not know she was being abused until she reached college.
"It's the most lethal form of child abuse. A lot of children die. And yet it is the hardest to criminalize or get the child out," she implied.
A case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP)
Kristi Carroll, a Tarrant County mom, had periodically lied about her son's health a few months after his birth in 2016. She frequented the hospital with him, telling doctors he could not keep his food down.
The result was a medical procedure where the child needed to be inserted with a gastric feeding tube. This happened because the medical team was under the impression that the boy was seriously ill.
After some time, Carroll returned to the hospital with her son telling the doctors that the little boy was vomiting with the inserted feeding tube. Another procedure was made, and a central line was inserted to administer nutrition through the baby's veins.
According to the warrant of arrest, the medical staff began to notice that the mother was strangely behaving. According to the medical staff, she posted on her Facebook account that her baby stopped breathing and had to be revived, even if this never happened. They were also shocked to see the excitement on her face when they told her that her baby boy might need an intestinal transplant.
Carroll came to the Cook Children's Medical Center in January 2018, reporting that her son had thrown up. Based on video surveillance, the hospital found this was a lie as they saw the mother spilling liquid on her son's bed to create fake vomit.
It was later found out that Carroll had faked and lied about her child's sickness from 2017 to 2018, an arrest warrant affidavit stated. Hospital staff reported her for possible medical abuse, and an investigation happened in 2018 by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Her son was removed from her care within a month, and the baby's central line was removed.
In April 2018, it was found that Caroll had Munchausen syndrome by proxy. However, come March 2019, Caroll had her son back, as ruled by a Tarrant County judge, and as per the arrest warrant, she went back to abusing her son through unnecessary medical procedures.
In October 2019, a criminal investigation started that led to her arrest. After five months, she was eventually charged with three counts of injury to a child, with a maximum penalty of two to ten years of service in prison.
The mother took a plea deal, admitted to faking her child's illnesses, and got a "light" sentence of five years probation, 160 hours of community service, and a court fine of only $355. She was given back the custody of her son but was prohibited from "harmful or injurious contact," and the father should be with her on any hospital visits.
Cases hard to persecute
Tarrant County, Texas, has caught more perpetrators of medical child abuse than any other state in the country. They have established efficient multiple systems to recognize, report and investigate suspected cases. However, they get frustrated that despite evidence and all, these cases are hard to prosecute as there is no law against medical child abuse specifically. Like what happened in Carroll's case, perpetrators receive light sentences and still are given custody of the child they caused harm to.
A leading expert in medical child abuse for decades, Dr. Marc Feldman, thinks Tarrant County is "doing the best job" in handling cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy in the country. However, no matter how good they are, he stated that since the jury is still out, the court might continue to mishandle the cases.
This is how crucial the new Texas law that is being pushed for approval is, Fort Worth Star-Telegram explained.
Since 2009, 11 women in Tarrant County have been accused of medical child abuse and were convicted. There are three other women charged but on pending trial.
Related article: Texas Mom Overdoses Daughter with Benadryl to Fake Seizures, Tells Police She's a 'Horrible Person'
