The case involves a 34-year-old Australian influencer accused of drugging her one-year-old child to fabricate a narrative of illness for financial gain and online visibility, leading to her arrest after a detailed police investigation.
Disturbing Case of Influencer Charged with Poisoning Infant for Online Fame
Disturbing Case of Influencer Charged with Poisoning Infant for Online Fame
A Queensland mother faces serious charges after allegedly poisoning her baby girl to gain social media traction and funding.
An Australian influencer is under arrest for allegedly poisoning her baby daughter in a shocking attempt to garner donations and enhance her social media presence. The 34-year-old Queensland woman reportedly documented her child’s fight against a supposed terminal illness on platforms like Instagram, but police claim she was drugging her infant and capturing the child's extreme suffering on video.
Authorities received a tip-off in October when the baby was rushed to the hospital exhibiting a serious medical crisis. After a thorough investigation spanning several months, the influencer was charged with multiple offenses, including torture, administering poison, creating child exploitation materials, and fraud.
Detective Inspector Paul Dalton voiced the prosecution's outrage, stating that "no words can express how heinous crimes of this nature are" during a press conference on Thursday. Investigators assert that from August to October, the woman administered various prescription and over-the-counter medications to her child without any medical consent.
The investigation revealed that the accused employed deceptive tactics to acquire unauthorized medications and conceal her actions, reportedly using leftover prescriptions from another individual living at the same address. The inquiry was initiated on October 15, after the baby was admitted to a hospital severely affected by both emotional and physical distress; subsequent tests confirmed the presence of unapproved substances in her system.
The influencer, identified as residing in the Sunshine Coast area, successfully raised roughly A$60,000 (around £30,500 or $37,300) through GoFundMe, prompting the platform's management to attempt to reimburse the donations. While police probed potential accomplices, no one else has been charged at this stage.
The woman is scheduled to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, as the case raises troubling questions about the depths of manipulation for online notoriety.
