Wendi Michelle Scott

According to court statements, Scott previously feigned cancer for about a year between 2002 and 2003 by shaving her head and eyebrows and plucking her eyelashes. She used a wheelchair or walker most of the time, convincing her husband, pastor, and friends that she was seriously ill. While it is unclear if there was a definitive past diagnosis, Angel characterized Scott in the November 16, 2007, hearing as having "a history of Munchausen syndrome." ==Daughter's illness and investigation==

In the hearing, Assistant State Attorney Angel described how Scott intravenously fed her daughter magnesium and withdrew her blood to make her appear sickly, causing her daughter to suffer severe diarrhea, blood loss, vomiting, high fever, and a rapid heart rate. During this time, her daughter was being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but doctors there could not find a cause for her symptoms. During three years of inpatient and outpatient treatments at Walter Reed, 72 procedures were performed on the child, including blood transfusions and bone marrow tests because of suspicions of leukemia. Doctors admitted that if not for that suspicion, none of the procedures likely would have been required. ==Online journal==

While the child was at Walter Reed, Scott posted an online diary documenting the travails of parenting a seriously ill child, Angel said. "The doctors are at a loss," Angel said, reading from the journal. "But we will continue to go on, and through friends, the hospital and everyone's prayers, we'll get through this." ==Trial and sentence==

Scott entered a guilty plea to first-degree child abuse on March 13, 2008. In the hearing, Scott's defense attorney acknowledged her client intentionally harmed her child during the six-week period from May 1 to June 12, 2007, and conceded that the state could prove Scott committed the most serious of those acts during this time period. Judge Dwyer, again presiding, accepted Scott's plea and convicted her of abuse from May 1 to June 12, 2007. As part of the plea agreement, fourteen other charges against Scott were dropped, including allegations of assault and reckless endangerment. Dwyer ordered Scott to remain on home detention while awaiting trial and prohibited her from contacting her children or entering Fort Detrick. ==See also==