A 31 year old White woman from Washington state forced her adopted 6-year-old Black daughter to undergo more than 470 medical treatments, including surgeries authorities said.
The woman was charged after doctors found that the child was “perfectly healthy,” MTO News has learned – and deemed many of the surgeries, if not all of them, as unnecessary.
While the motivation for her crime remains unknown, the accused mom then gained sympathy and followers for her daughter’s surgeries but “clout.” She received significant support from the Make A Wish Foundation and MTO News has learned that she even got to speak at one of the charity’s black-tie events. Look:
Sophie Hartman, 31, made her adopted daughter wear leg braces and go under the knife for multiple painful surgeries to install a feeding tube and a tube to flush out the child’s intestines.
Sarah, who adopted the child from Zambia in Africa, is now facing second-degree charges of assault of a child and attempted assault of a child in a case medical experts are calling “medical child abuse.”
If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison, MTO News has learned.
“It is not necessary to know the possible motivation of a caregiver, only the outcome of the behavior,” Dr. Rebecca Wiester, director of the Seattle Children’s Hospital, wrote in a Feb. 19 letter that prompted an investigation by the Department of Children and Youth.
The letter, which said the child was at “profound risk,” was co-signed by other physicians and was part of the charging document from the prosecutor’s office, MTO News has learned.
Hartman was charged after the child, referred to by the initials C.H., underwent a 16-day observation for her numerous ailments and treatments.
“At no point during her admission were there any findings or reported symptoms to support any of her prior diagnoses,” said the charging document.
“All the available evidence obtained during the course of her admission suggests C.H. is a healthy young 6-year-old who would continue to benefit from de-escalation of medical support and normalization of her childhood experience.”
Sarah contacted Make A Wish foundation, and received a gift from the organization – which was supposed to be used to help the child. Here’s a video that Make-A-Wish created for Sophie.
