Mom Who Faked Son's Cancer Released
MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ) - A Roseville woman who faked her son's cancer to collect thousands of dollars in donations is out of jail after 10 months behind bars.
Prosecutors say 48-year-old Carol Schnuphase not only lied to friends, family and strangers, she also told her son that he had Leukemia, shaved his head and gave him drugs to make him appear ill. She eventually told people he had died.
Schnuphase pleaded no contest in February to charges of second-degree child abuse and acting under false pretenses.
Prosecutors said a hospital tested the boy, who is now 13, and declared him cancer-free, although he was going through opiate withdrawal.
A lawyer for Schnuphase, who said his client denies drugging the boy, said her actions were out of character and may have stemmed from her husband's sudden death and the recent loss of her job.
Schnuphase will be under house arrest for 6 months and will have to pay back the approximately $10,000 she had accepted. In April, she surrendered her parental rights.
