CHESTERFIELD, Va., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A Virginia mother was arrested for accepting thousands of dollars in donations after lying about her daughter having terminal cancer, police say.
Katie Patterson, 26, was charged with three counts of obtaining money by false pretenses. Chesterfield Police say Patterson "accepted more than $2,000 in donations" over the course of several months from former co-workers after she falsely claimed her 4-year-old daughter was dying of leukemia.
The co-workers on Wednesday reported the alleged fraud to officers, who took Patterson into custody before releasing her from Chesterfield Jail on bond.
Captain Brad Badgerow with the Chesterfield County Police Department told WWBT that Patterson "readily admitted she made everything up and that she was in financial difficulties and once she told that initial lie, it snowballed."
Patterson quit her job as a school bus driver earlier this month after her story began to unravel, police say.
In June 2012, a Missouri mother was arrested and charged with forgery after she too falsely claimed her 17-year-old daughter was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer in order to gain thousands of dollars in donations.
