A Minnesota woman was accused of trying to kill her nine-month-old son by force-feeding him laxatives to starve him.
During an investigation, police discovered that Megan Lee Kafer of Lewiston, Minnesota, had used her phone to search for ways to kill her baby, including searching the words “MiraLax overdose” and “Can a doctor tell if you overdose on Miralax.” Her browser history also showed she looked up answers to the phrase “How to make a baby really sick.” She looked for ways to induce vomiting, as well, according to Fox News.
Kafer came under suspicion when doctors at Children’s Hospital in St. Paul became alarmed at the health of her baby. Medical staffers came to suspect that Kafer was somehow bringing harm to her child when they found him “emaciated” and “failing to thrive.”
Doctors placed the woman and her baby in a private room but equipped the room with a hidden camera. Soon they spied Kafer feeding her baby some unknown substance. It was later found to be an over-the-counter laxative.
Medical staffers later reported that the child was not gaining weight likely because his mother was “denying him nutrition through a combination of disconnecting/diverting his feeds and administering water.” Doctors added that they felt the child was suffering from “inflicted starvation.”
Despite the shocking charges, Kafer’s husband, Jacob Kafer, told the media he is trying to reunite his family.
“We are trying to get the family back together in a way that is safe and healthy for everyone,” Jacob Kafer said, according to Pioneer Press.
The man noted that his wife is now getting mental health care, taking medication, and “moving in the right direction” toward better mental health.
Jacob also said he does not think his wife suffers from Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome, the mental illness where a mother will harm her children to gain sympathy for herself.
“I am not saying there wasn’t an issue, there definitely was … I just don’t think it’s (Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome),” Jacob Kafer claimed. “My wife was definitely not in a proper mental state, but to the extreme that they make it out to be and have laid out in the complaint, it’s not quite like that,” he said.
The woman also has a history of suffering PTSD from a car accident several years ago. After the accident, she turned to self-harm, reports say.
Megan Lee Kafer was charged with one count of felony child endangerment. She will appear in court sometime next month.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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