A Texas mother has pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury to her son after authorities said she made him undergo unnecessary medical tests and procedures, including 13 major surgeries, between 2009 and 2017.
Kaylene, 35, pleaded guilty Thursday in a Dallas County court, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Officials said she began taking her son to unneeded doctor appointments when he was just 11 days old, and reports say he had 323 doctor visits.
Prosecutors said that by age eight the boy had undergone more than a dozen major surgeries and was using a wheelchair. According to Newsweek, he was also fitted with a feeding tube that went directly into his small intestine, which led to several serious infections. Authorities also said she tried to get him on a lung transplant list.
Reports say she also launched fundraisers for his medical bills, claiming he had a rare genetic disorder and cancer. The boy and his two half siblings were removed from her care in 2017 after Dallas hospital staff told Child Protective Services that he did not have cancer or the other symptoms she described.
The boy’s father now has custody. He told reporters the boy is very athletic, does well in school, is out of the wheelchair and has only needed checkups with a doctor.
Kaylene faces up to 20 years in prison and is set to be sentenced October 11. No public statement from her was included in early reports.
