A scary New Jersey mom with a serious case of Munchausen mania has been charged for medically abusing her otherwise healthy child, in a bid for public praise and sympathy.
Like Lacey Spears of Kentucky and Candida Fluty of West Virginia, this month’s attention-seeking mother is also accused of subjecting her helpless child to a host of unneeded tests and treatments -- including surgeries -- since even before the girl was born.
For that, a grand jury indicted 36-year-old Malinda Lugin this month on charges related to endangerment and abuse of a minor. Her 7-year-old daughter “L.L.” is now safe in the custody of a relative.
Doctors contacted police about Lugin’s pathological *parenting* in spring of 2015, after finally realizing that the woman’s little girl had been forced to undergo a bevy of medical interventions she never actually needed, beginning in utero.
NJ authorities say Malinda Lugin herself suffers from a rare mental illness known as “Munchausen by Proxy” which generally strikes caregivers and accounts for their very twisted, often deadly, crimes.
She is apparently fit to stand trial, however, and faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.
