A lawyer for a woman accused of poisoning her one-year-old girl with unnecessary medications to gain a social media profile is seeking protective custody due to the publicity.
Warning: some readers may find the content of this article disturbing
The 34-year-old woman, who cannot be identified, appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday wearing a long green police watch house top and green pants.
She is accused of giving her one-year-old child unauthorised prescription and pharmacy medications between August and October 2024 to grow her social media profile and gain $60,000 in donations.
The woman has been charged with five counts of administering poison with intent to harm, three counts of preparation to commit crimes with dangerous things and one count each of torture, making child exploitation material and fraud.
She looked calm while she stood with her hands clasped facing Magistrate Peter Saggers while her case was mentioned.
Her lawyer Mathew Cuskelly did not apply for bail on his client’s behalf but asked for a pre-brief of evidence to be disclosed.
This included CCTV related to the preparation to commit crime charges that police allege capture the offences on high-quality footage with correlated receipts and bank records.
He also asked for a video recording of an electroencephalogram (EEG) device, which records electrical activity of the brain, to be disclosed.
The woman was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned until January 28 when she is expected to apply for bail.
A female supporter sat in the front row of the courtroom smiling at the woman and blew kisses as she was led back to the watch house.
The woman will be taken from the Brisbane watch house to a women’s prison.
Mr Cuskelly asked for the woman to be placed in protective custody when she arrived there.
“There is some publicity with regards to this matter and I am concerned with regard to the safety of my client,” he said.
Mr Saggers said that was a matter for Corrective Services.
The allegations came to investigators’ attention after the little girl was admitted to a hospital in Brisbane’s south for a genuine and “serious medical condition” when hospital staff raised concerns she was being poisoned.
Police say they found unauthorised prescription drugs in the child’s system following testing, medical statements and expert opinions.
The woman allegedly disregarded medical advice by ignoring a hospital’s treatment plan and went to lengths to get unauthorised medicines to give to the child, including old medications for a different person available at her home.
The woman allegedly filmed and posted videos to social media of the child while she was in “immense distress and pain”.
“We believe the person we have charged has administered these drugs to increase that person’s social media profile and views and thereby obtain financial benefit,” Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said on Thursday.
He said the woman had GoFundMe pages set up for crowd fundraising and allegedly fraudulently obtained $60,000 in donations.
GoFundMe is repaying donors and police will seek the money back in restitution should the woman be convicted.
Any suggestion the accused woman suffered Munchausen syndrome by proxy – where a caregiver makes or exaggerates an illness for someone in their care – had not been raised with police.
Det Insp Dalton said the infant was doing well since being removed from the woman’s care.
He said if police had not intervened, there could have been dire consequences for the child.
While leaving court, Mr Cuskelly and the supporter refused to comment on the case to the scrum of media.
Lifeline 13 11 14; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25).
