Mom put her daughter on feeding tube for the cash
Background: Grant Superior Court 2 in Marion, Ind. (Google Maps). Inset: Alanna Lin Brown (Grant County Sheriff's Office).
An Indiana woman faces charges of fraud and child neglect after authorities say she had a feeding tube inserted into her daughter solely to receive financial assistance.
Alanna Lin Brown, 32, is out on bail after allegedly defrauding a local organization by claiming her 3-year-old daughter required a feeding tube. Court documents obtained by WXIN show that Brown took her daughter to the emergency room in April, stating the child was aspirating while eating and needed the tube. The girl was reportedly diagnosed with moderate malnutrition.
However, the child’s father, a preschool teacher, questioned the necessity of the feeding tube, saying his daughter had no trouble eating. Investigators also spoke to people who knew Brown, some of whom expressed skepticism about the child’s purported health problems, which Brown claimed had existed since the child was three months old. One friend told police the girl “didn’t have to be” on a feeding tube and noted she ate a meal at McDonald’s without issues. The friend also alleged that Brown had received payments from a local assistance organization that supports children and seniors with medical needs.
According to court documents, Brown allegedly received $96,688.44 from LifeStream Services over 22 months. Authorities say a Ring camera captured Brown complaining about her finances if her daughter were taken off the feeding tube, saying, “Now, I got to refigure my bills… because I’m not going to lose a f—ing payment from her so she can eat.”
The girl’s father told investigators that during the 10 days she was in his care in March, she ate normally without the tube and even gained weight. A doctor who had treated the child raised concerns that she continued to lose weight while under Brown’s care, but reportedly began gaining once removed from her mother in October.
Brown is charged with fraud and neglect of a dependent causing bodily injury. She posted $2,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 5.
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