An Indiana mother has been accused of fraud and neglect for allegedly lying about her daughter’s “terminal” medical condition and raising money for it.
Katherine Jackson, 41, claimed in 2021 that her daughter suffered from Pilarowski-Bjornsson Syndrome (PBS) with “80-90 seizures per day” because of a second disease, Lennox-Gastant Sydrome, WANE reported.
Jackson set up a GoFundMe that raised more than $1,600 for the girl, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation approved a Disney World trip for the girl, her sister, and her mother, although the trip never happened because of COVID. WANE ran a story about the illness in 2022 after learning about the Make-A-Wish involvement.
Court documents filed in Jackson’s arrest say that she brought the girl to the hospital about three weeks after the television story, and medical staff raised concerns at that point about possible abuse, citing the girl’s irregular heart beat and ongoing seizures.
The child was taken to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, where doctors learned that Jackson had not been refilling the girl’s many prescriptions.
Investigators spoke with a doctor who explained that the child had been diagnosed with PBS but that while it has no cure, it is considered a chronic illness and not a terminal illness as Jackson claimed. A psychologist who treated the children in late 2021 told investigators that Jackson had said the girl with PBS was “terminal” and would not likely live for another year.
After those two hospital visits in August 2022, the child and her sister. who were 6 and 5 at the time, began living with a foster parent. The foster parent told detectives in April last year that neither girl was in school or had been potty trained when they arrived.
Jackson was charged with one count of fraud and two counts of neglect of a dependent.
Counsel representing Katherine Jackson released the following statement in response to the allegations:
“The baseless attacks on my client, Katherine Jackson, are part of a much larger and more complex situation that has been spearheaded by the Indiana Department of Child Services. Up until late 2024, DCS claimed that Katherine’s daughter’s rare genetic disorder, Pilarowski Bjornsson Syndrome, did not exist, despite having proven lab results indicating otherwise. This is only one of many critical factual and provable details that have been tragically absent from public reporting, seeking to paint a false narrative of Katie.
Ms. Jackson did not lie about the disease to receive any support from the MakeAWish Foundation and is extremely grateful for their contributions – so much so that all the funds in the GoFundMe account, which was set up by a friend, were donated by Ms. Jackson back to the MakeAWish Foundation – all of which can be confirmed with documentation.
At no point in time did Ms. Jackson lie, exploit, or exaggerate the truth of her daughter’s illness. The claim that Ms. Jackson was not providing her children with the proper medication after days of being in the ER is not only absurd, given that said care was now the responsibility of medical staff, but also false. Since the biased and egregious attacks on my client by the Indiana DCS, Ms. Jackson has been forced to live without her daughters, who mean the absolute world to her. Her devotion to her children is what motivates her to keep fighting nonstop through illegal medical document deletions, diagnosis denials, and outright fabrications. She will continue to take every legal step necessary to get her children back, and we look forward to watching the truth prevail in court.”
-Tracey L Harkins of Prusak & Harkins, LLC, Counsel for Katherine Jackson, and Aaron Rapier of Rapier Law Firm, Counsel for Katherine Jackson
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Pixabay]