Australian Social Media Influencer Arrested for Poisoning Her Baby for Clicks and Cash

One of the worst things about the modern world is that social media and ubiquitous camera phones give the real psychopaths among us a chance to spread their poison. Case in point, a 34-year-old woman in Australia was just arrested for (allegedly) giving an infant drugs that put the child in distress, then filming that distress to raise money online. 

…between August 6 to October 15, 2024, a 34-year-old Sunshine Coast woman administered several unauthorised prescription and pharmacy medicines to a one-year-old girl, who was known to her, without medical approval…

Later investigations are alleged to have uncovered the woman carefully concealed her continued efforts to administer the unauthorised medicines until the matter was detected and reported to police by medical staff from a hospital in Brisbane’s south while the child was admitted.

While the child was being subject to immense distress and pain, it is alleged the woman filmed and posted videos of the child.

It is alleged the content produced exploited the child and was used to entice monetary donations and online followers.

On October 15, 2024, medical staff reported harm against the child to detectives.

Today the unidentified woman, who is apparently the child’s mother, was arrested at home and the baby is safe.

Police arrested the woman Thursday in Underwood, eastern Australia, and charged her 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. The individual charges can carry sentences of between five and 20 years of imprisonment.

Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said at a news conference Thursday that the child is now “safe” and doing “well.”

Queensland police said the woman raised just above 60,000 Australian dollars ($37,000) from donors fraudulently. Authorities did not name the woman or child or specify their relationship, but they said the child “was known to” the woman.

Would you torture your own helpless child for $37,000? For some very sick people out there the answer is yes and thanks to the internet it’s no longer hard to make the transactions happen or to benefit personally and socially from the deal.

Many people donated “their hard-earned cash” to the woman, Dalton said, adding that police had been in contact with GoFundMe. A spokesperson for the fundraising site told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the company was issuing “proactive refunds … to all donors as part of our ongoing commitment to protecting Australian generosity.”

The BBC refers to the woman as an influencer. I haven’t seen it confirmed but some people claim she was posting these videos and gaining sympathy and followers on TikTok. The BBC also reports the woman claimed the baby was fighting a “terminal illness.”

The Queensland woman claimed she was chronicling her child’s battle with a terminal illness on social media, but detectives allege she was drugging the one-year-old and then filming her in “immense distress and pain”.

It’s not clear if the child has some ongoing condition but the terminal illness claim suggests this wasn’t going to end well for the child. Thank goodness the medical staff at the hospital caught on to her. Here’s video of the woman in question being arrested.