Money is tight for many US families right now. Parents do their best every day to provide for their children. Some moms and dads work multiple jobs to make ends meet. Others work multiple schemes. Police in Indiana recently arrested a mom who allegedly defrauded donors out of nearly $100,000 by faking her child’s serious medical issues. Alanna Lin Brown of Gas City now faces fraud and child neglect charges and a mountain of backlash.
In a now-deleted GoFundMe account, Brown claimed she and Zach Phillips needed to raise funds for their young daughter, Gracelin. The now 3-year-old reportedly had issues with feeding, and Brown somehow convinced doctors to insert a feeding tube. Fox 59’s Angela Ganote reported Brown allegedly told doctors her daughter had issues with feeding from a very early age. At one point, Gracelin was diagnosed with mild malnutrition, a claim Philipps refuted.
According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, Phillips reportedly works in child care and told investigators Gracelin did not have issues with feeding. Brown allegedly took their daughter to the emergency room in April and told staff Gracelin was aspirating her food and needed a feeding tube. Ganote reported Phillips said he had Gracelin in his care for 10 days in March, and she had no issues with eating. Other witnesses told investigators the child had no problems feeding and had been seen eating all kinds of things, including McDonald’s.
Brown allegedly took several payments totaling $96,688.44 from LifeStream Services, an organization that helps children and seniors with medical issues. Ring camera footage apparently caught Brown spouting off about what would happen if Gracelin stopped using the feeding tube, Law&Crime reported.
“Now, I got to refigure my bills… because I’m not going to lose a f—–g payment from her so she can eat,” Brown allegedly said.
Ganote’s story shocked readers, particularly those with feeding tube experience.
“My son had to undergo surgery to have his g-tube placed, but this was after a year of in and out hospitalizations for aspiration pneumonia and multiple swallow studies that showed full aspiration at any level thickness. I have no idea how a doctor would approve or recommend without any diagnostics confirming aspiration,” one parent wrote.
Others doubted the doctor’s credibility.
“I would sure hope that the [doctor] did a little more research or the swallow testing to determine if she actually had an issue with choking before putting a feeding tube in,” a comment reads. “Kind of sounds like maybe there was some negligence on that end as well. Either way, this poor baby!!”
Sadly, this sounds like it could have been Gypsy Rose Blanchard all over again. Thankfully, Gracelin appears to be fine. Law&Crime reported she left her mother’s custody in October and began to gain weight. We realize money’s tight right now, but using your child for a paycheck is pretty darn low.
