Carol Lynn Schnuphase

What Carol Lynn Schnuphase did was far worse than conducting a scam, lying to people, and ripping them off.

She abused her son in a most horrific way. She shamelessly exploited him to carry out her scheme.

From the Associated Press:

An unemployed Detroit-area mother accused of drugging and shaving her healthy 12-year-old son so he appeared to have cancer, then accepting thousands of dollars in donations for his treatment, was arraigned Friday on charges of fraud and child abuse.

A Roseville district court judge ordered Carol Lynn Schnuphase, 47, of Warren, held on $100,000 bond.

"A mother, no less, goes so far as to shave the head every other week, shave the eyebrows, and maybe the worst thing of all, to crushing up drugs to put in his applesauce to make him appear lethargic," said Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith.

A hospital has tested the boy and declared him cancer-free, although he was going through opiate withdrawal, Smith said. Authorities haven't yet determined what drugs were in the boy's system and are awaiting hospital test results.

Court records indicate Schnuphase told her son he had leukemia.

Authorities say Schnuphase elicited donations from individuals, groups and members of at least one church who believed they were helping to pay for her son's medical care as he underwent chemotherapy.

Smith said she received $7,500 from a church fundraiser, in addition to other donations, and that her son was given gifts including an Xbox video game system.

...The charade appears to have started in December, and eventually Schnuphase's family members and relatives of her deceased husband reported her to police.

After authorities removed the boy from her home earlier this summer, Schnuphase told past donors her son had died and that she needed money for his funeral and burial, Smith said.

Schnuphase disgusts me.

So many parents know the pain of caring for a child with a life-threatening illness, of watching their son or daughter suffer, of dealing with the uncertainty of what lies ahead. They would give anything to see their child healthy.

And what did the greedy Schnuphase do, a woman blessed with a healthy 12-year-old son?

She announced that he had Leukemia. She drugged him and made him appear ill. She played on the generosity of kind and caring people, and profited from their desire to help. Schnuphase even went so far as to say her child died and she needed money for his funeral expenses.

The woman is evil.

...Schnuphase faces two counts of fraud over $1,000, which carry sentences of up to five years. She also is charged with one count of second-degree child abuse, a felony with a sentence of up to four years.

Roseville's Deputy Police Chief James Berlin said during the scheme Schnuphase was living in her suburban Detroit home, which was in foreclosure.

Angry relatives viewed the arraignment in the small courtroom and expressed disbelief and anger toward Schnuphase afterward.

"I have never heard of such a thing where a mother would do this. I don't know what caused it," said her aunt, Lorraine Kelsch.

Former sister-in-law Elizabeth Carmack called the actions "sick and disgusting."

"I hope that she rots in jail," Carmack told reporters.

Schnuphase is a horrible mother and a horrible person.

As part of her punishment, she should have to work at a facility with seriously ill children. She should be exposed to sick kids and forced to understand the pain that they endure. She should experience the true heartache of a parent with a child fighting for life.

Telling your 12-year-old son that he has cancer?

Telling people your healthy son is dying? Telling them he's dead?

Despicable. There are no words.