A mum who fatally abused her 7-year-old daughter while lying about her health to claim more than £70,000 of charity handouts has been sentenced to 16 years in prison .
Kelly Turner last month pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in the 2017 death of the girl, Olivia Gant, and to charitable fraud and theft.
Former charges of first-degree murder, attempt to influence a public servant and forgery were dropped as part of an agreement deal with prosecutors, the New York Post reported.
Turner reportedly lied to doctors about her daughter’s medical history while broadcasting her "struggles" in a bid to receive money and favours from organisations like the Make-A-Wish Foundation, who threw a “bat princess” costume for Olivia at a cost of £8,000.
Over several years before her death in Denver hospice care in 2017, she had received unnecessary surgeries and medications.
Doctors and other parties were duped into believing Olivia was ill, in part by clips put out by Turner highlighting her girl’s battle with the disease.
The girl’s cause of death was initially listed as intestinal failure, but an autopsy later found no evidence of that condition.
While authorities have not yet named an alternative cause of death, doctors reportedly went along with Turner’s push to stop feeding her daughter.
According to prosecutors, the amount of theft from the charity was between £70,000 and £700,000.
Turner’s sentence was issued on Wednesday by Judge Patricia Herron, after Turner entered a guilty plea last month to child abuse, resulting in the 2017 death of Olivia and to charitable fraud and theft.
Previous charges - of first-degree murder, attempt to influence a public servant and forgery were dropped, as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
Turner was silent during her virtual sentencing hearing, however, she wiped away tears as prosecutors played clips of Olivia laughing, baking a cake, dancing in a princess costume, playing doctor with her dolls and singing songs.
A statement from Olivia’s grandfather, Lonnie Gautreau, read out by a prosecutor, said the truth about his granddaughter had caused him “such a deep pain that it continues to ravage [him] every day”.
According to psychiatrists, Turner's behaviour was consistent with Munchausen syndrome by proxy - a psychological disorder increasingly featured in movies and television in which parents or caregivers seek attention from the illness of their children or dependents and sometimes cause them injuries.
Turner began weaving her web of lies in 2012 when she moved to Colorado from Texas with her three daughters and began to tell doctors that Olivia was sick with numerous ailments and diseases.
She convinced medical professionals to perform surgeries and fill prescriptions for illnesses that Olivia didn’t have.
Doctors were somehow duped by information provided by Turner for Olivia’s medical history, along with blogs, news stories and fundraising websites describing various health conditions including claims she suffered from a seizure disorder, a tumour and a buildup of fluid in cavities deep within her brain.
Medics inspecting Olivia during her first emergency room visit remarked that she appeared to be growing normally, but by the next year, a surgeon at the same hospital had been convinced into removing part of her small intestine and putting her on a feeding tube.
The scam has prompted a $25 million claim by Olivia’s grandparents and father against a hospital system that includes Children’s Hospital of Colorado, where the child received years of various treatments.
The Mirror has contacted the Children's Hospital of Colorado for comment.
Her family had argued that the medical facilities had failed in their duty as a mandatory reporter of child abuse.
The case was resolved in August, and a lawyer representing the grandparents said she could not comment further.
Though Turner’s behaviour raised suspicions, it was only after Olivia had died in hospice care in 2017 and Turner brought one of her other daughters to hospital with “bone pain”, that doctors decided to investigate.
The 13-year-old girl is now in her grandparent’s care and has not reported any additional medical problems since 2018. Turner’s eldest child is an adult.
