Ohio mother fakes daughter's terminal illness to raise money from donations

A 35-year-old woman from Canton, USA, has pleaded guilty to faking her daughter's terminal cancer so she could raise money through online donations.

The woman, identified as Lindsey Abbuhl, has sentenced to six years in prison. The woman used her 11-year-old daughter, Rylee, to obtain funding for trips, housing and other expenses.

She even set up a GoFundMe page stating that her daughter is terminally ill and needs financial support. The page, now inactive, managed to raise more than $4,500 before it came to light that the mother had been lying about all of it.

"This little lady is my best friend! Continue to say prayers for her as we navigate through her medical concerns," read one of the posts by Abbuhl on Facebook.

"We don't know what her future holds, and we don't know if tomorrow will come for her each time we go to bed but the prayers and faith of all those we love helps keep us going!" it added.

Her lies were revealed after Riley's father and other community members became suspicious of her claims and filed complaints with the Stark County Family Court in 2021.

The investigators with the Stark County Department of Job and Family Services conducted a probe and found no evidence which could prove that Riley was ill.

The complaint also revealed that Abbuhl had even placed her daughter in counselling so she could learn to "process her own death." She put her own daughter through mental agony for money.

The members of the community even reached out to The Canton Repository newspaper about Abbuhl's claims and asked for their help in uncovering the truth.

However, Abbuhl declined to show any of Rylee's medical records to the newspaper. She accused people of trying to "cause drama" by digging into the case.

The woman has now pleaded guilty to both second-degree child endangerment and fourth-degree theft. She is also required to pay $8,529.90 in restitution to victims as part of a plea deal.

Rylee's father, Jamie Abbuhl, who divorced Lindsey in 2017, has been given full custody of his child, per a report in The Mirror.