MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A Michigan woman has been charged with child abuse and taking money under false pretenses for making it appear her 12-year-old son had cancer, officials said.
Carol Lynn Schnuphase, 47, allegedly told her son he had cancer, shaved his head, and fed him opiates in applesauce to make him sick so she could obtain money at fundraisers held in his behalf, The Detroit News reported.
"We got information that this woman was allegedly holding fundraisers for her ill son, but he wasn't sick," said Macomb County prosecutor Eric Smith. "We started investigating, and we were able to prove that her child didn't have leukemia and never had it."
The woman allegedly put her story on Facebook on the Internet, and received more than $8,000 from various fundraisers, the newspaper said.
"It's our understanding that the child actually thought he was sick," Berlin said.
Schnuphase was charged with one count of second-degree child abuse, and two counts of taking money under false pretenses. The boy was removed from the home, and Schnuphase was to turn herself in to authorities in Roseville, officials said.
