A Dallas woman was sentenced to six years in prison for subjecting her 10-year-old son, Christopher to hundreds of procedures and 13 major surgeries.
According to a Child Protective Services (CPS) complaint obtained by the Star-Telegram, Kaylene Bowen-Wright faked or caused her son’s illnesses and medical problems almost from the day he was born.
CPS states Bowen-Wright, 36, subjected Christopher to years of unnecessary invasive medical treatments in Dallas, where they lived.
Bowen-Wright pleaded guilty to injury to a child causing serious bodily harm. She admitted she faked his medical conditions and subjected him to 13 major surgeries as well as hundreds of minor medical procedures.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Christopher was fed through a feeding tube and for a time he was in a wheelchair.
When he was 5, Christopher was placed in hospice care and Bowen-Wright signed a “do not resuscitate” order, meaning nurses would allow him to die if his condition took a turn for the worse.
“(She would) just always say that something’s wrong with Christopher all the time,” the child’s father, Ryan Crawford testified in court. “It was just one thing after another.”
Bowen-Wright was arrested in 2017 after CPS notified authorities of a possible Munchausen syndrome by proxy child abuse case. Her other children were removed from her home.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a condition in which a mentally unstable parent or caregiver exaggerates or causes medical problems in children or people in their care.
Christopher, who has healed from his surgeries, was placed in his father’s custody by the state.
“She stole Christopher’s childhood,” prosecutor Jennifer Sawyer said in court.