A mother who was caught pretending her daughter had a terminal disease avoided jail.
37-year-old Renee Jocelyn O’Brien collected thousands of dollars to ‘help’ her 5-year-old daughter do everything she wanted to do before dying but the money ended up in her pocket.
The mother reportedly lied to her family, friends, and kindhearted people online by saying her child only had a few months to live.
Unsuspecting people shared some experiences to make the 5-year-old smile and donations reached almost $9,000.
O’Brien said her 5-year-old had written a bucket list of the things she wished to do, which included whale watching, flying in a helicopter, and riding a truck.
She said her husband also quit his job so he could stay with their daughter.
The 5-year-old was told that she had a medical condition after a growth was found in her brain but they were never told that the growth was cancer.
O’Brien then lied to everyone and said that the girl had terminal brain cancer.
Authorities then discovered that the mother was lying as she failed to provide medical statements proving her daughter had cancer.
O’Brien was arrested in September 2019 and charged with eleven fraud offenses.
On September 15 this year, she was ordered to pay back the money that had been collected on GoFundMe.
“It’s offensive to members of the community who really are struggling with cancer and its effects, and who rely on the assistance the community offers to get them through this tough period in their lives,” said prosecutor Senior Sergeant Carrie Davidson.
“She maintained the lie, and even commenced fabricating a further story that her second daughter was experiencing headaches and telling friends that she too had lymphoma, and even stated to others that she herself had cancer.”
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Replaced!