The mother of a 12-year-old boy in Michigan told her son that he had leukemia, that he could die, then started raising money for his treatments. She asked members of her church to try and help her with the medical bills to make ends meet.
Which is what every mother should do in that situation. But the sad part is, the boy didn’t have leukemia. He was fine. His mother, a terrific specimen of humanity, shaved his head and drugged him so he’d think he was dying.
She then started scamming everyone in sight, parading her drugged son around so she could collect the checks.
According to an Associated Press story by Corey Williams, the mother — Carol Lynn Schnuphase — didn’t have any outstanding debts and she didn’t have a job. She was spending the donations on food, bills, and other every day expenses.
After the scam was revealed, a hospital checked on the son and said that he was indeed cancer-free. He was, however, going through opiate withdrawal. Authorities still aren’t certain exactly what type of drugs were used, but the tests are ongoing, according to the AP.
Schnuphase conned her church (who hosted a fundraiser in her son’s honor) out of $7,500 before getting caught. To make matters worse, once the authorities removed her son from her care, she went right back to the people who donated money and told them he had died and she needed money for funeral expenses.
Anyone can see that Schnuphase is obviously mother of the year material, but the damage she’s done is going to be much more than just a jail sentence (she’s been arraigned with charges of fraud and child abuse). She betrayed the trust of her former church members, who are probably going to do some thorough checking before they donate money again, and taxpayers have to spend money so she can live a large chunk of her life in prison.
Worst of all, though, she’s taken her own child and set him up with a target on his back for the rest of his life. He’s now in foster care. For his sake, we hope his mother stays out of his life for quite some time.
