A NSW doctor formally raised suspicions more than 20 years ago that a daughter of Maree Crabtree — charged last week with murdering two of her adult children and torturing a third — was *repeatedly being admitted to hospital with fake or exaggerated illnesses.
Michael Ryan from Sydney’s Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children wrote a report in 1997 suggesting Ms Crabtree’s then five-year-old daughter might be the victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, police say.
Ms Crabtree’s daughter had been in and out of hospital since birth and Dr Ryan’s report, prepared for the St George Community Services Centre, raised concerns that the girl could be going through undue testing, procedures and hospitalisation.
Police now accuse Ms Crabtree of the prolonged poisoning and physical and mental abuse of the same daughter, 25.
Ms Crabtree had kept the daughter under her complete control, dictating her finances, *social life, day-to-day living and medication, police will say.
As a result, the daughter allegedly underwent years of extreme medical interventions that she did not need.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/ne...s/news-story/8b0c1706f5e2cc4eee5a7e943b012b80