Arkansas couple 'falsely claimed their adopted son, 5, was terminally ill to scam $31,000 in donations, criticized the child for 'doing a bad job dying' and asked for him to be transferred to HOSPICE'
An Arkansas couple forced their adopted son to spend his formative years in a wheelchair being treated for a terminal illness that he never had, including being put on a feeding tube and transferred to hospice care, as part of a twisted scam to get donations.
Kristy and Erik Schneider are being sued by state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge for the $31,000 they swindled out of their neighbors in the heartless scam. Kristy also faces a felony charge for allegedly endangering the welfare of a minor.
Rutledge filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Pulaski County Circuit Court, seeking to recover funds from the Schneiders.
The Scheider's adopted Louie in 2014, when he was 5, and had him treated at hospitals in Little Rock, Cincinnati and at the Mayo Clinic between 2017 and 2019, according to the lawsuit, which identifies him by the initials L.S.
'It is inconceivable that parents would endanger their innocent child's health for their own profit and no child should ever be treated in this manner,' Rutledge said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. 'The Schneiders conned so many who gave thousands of dollars in honor of their ill child. There is nothing more reprehensible than taking advantage of the goodwill and generosity of your neighbors.'
Kristy Schneider and her husband Erik are facing a lawsuit from Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge for falsifying their son Louie's health conditions
Between 2017 and 2019, Louie had undergone unnecessary medical procedures and was eventually admitted into hospice care. His is pictured during a community parade in his honor, during which he was led to Arkansas Children's Hospital for hospice care
Louie was placed in state custody in the fall of 2019, when he was 11. He is above at the community baseball game in April 2019
The lawsuit says that Kristy Schneider faces endangerment charges for 'creating a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury' to Louie. The lawsuit does not reflect any charges against Erik.
The Schneiders' attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, said, 'We knew it was coming, we've been talking to the prosecutor.' He declined further comment.
The lawsuit alleges that Louie is a victim of factitious disorder, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and defines it as 'falsification of physical or psychological signs or symptoms, or induction of injury or disease, in another, associated with identified deception.'
The disorder is most often linked to the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, whose mother Dee Dee made her use a wheelchair and subjected her to unnecessary surgery and treatment for a feigned chronic disability. Dee Dee was murdered in 2015 by Gypsy Rose's then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn in their home in Springfield, Missouri.
Kristy first started soliciting donations for Louie in February 2019, when she created a profile on a fundraising site called CaringBridge.org. In her first post, she wrote that Louie had a 'rare chromosomal abnormality that led to him being globally developmentally delayed,' according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Louie is a victim of factitious disorder, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. In April 2019, he threw the first pitch at the opening game of a local baseball team named 'Louie Strong' in his honor
She claimed that the couple adopted Louie from foster care and immediately found that he 'had some undiagnosed GI issues but it didn't stop his smile from stealing hearts.'
She asserted that he had 'his first seizure at the breakfast table' in July 2017 and said that, over the next year, his 'body would begin to fail him.'
She wrote on CaringBridge.org that Louie was hospitalized six times in 2018 for a total of almost three months; his fine and gross motor skills regressed; his GI, neurological, and other systems declined; he became dependent on continuous j-tube feeds; he took about fifteen different medications a day, and he saw a number of specialists including neurosurgeons, neurologists, geneticists and complex care physicians.
'After seeing multiple specialists, trying everything possible, and consulting with doctors in multiple other states/facilities, it was determined that the recommended course of action was to come home on hospice care,' Kristy wrote on the fundraising site, adding that they were planning to let Louie die a 'natural death.'
In February 2019, Louie returned to Arkansas Children's Hospital for end-of-life care and his community held a parade to escort him to the hospital with federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and first responders.
The event was covered in a number of media outlets and taxpayers footed the bill for the law enforcement escorts.
While he was treated at ACH, his 'prognosis changed dramatically,' the lawsuit said, adding that he had been provided with proper nutrition and liquid for nine days and ended up looking 'better than he had in months,' testified Dr. Meghan Repp, a board certified pediatrician.
Days after he was taken from his parents, Louie got out of his wheel-chair and his health greatly improved
Kristy, who is seen speaking to media at the baseball game, also faces a felony charge for allegedly endangering the welfare of a minor
But when doctors told the couple the news, they demanded he stay on a feeding tube and 'flippantly remarked that he “did a bad job of dying,” ' the lawsuit reads.
The Mayo Clinic later refused to grant Kristy’s request to return the child to hospice care and the Arkansas Department of Human Services began to receive reports throughout the summer and fall of 2019 that Kristy was intentionally causing her child's illness.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services filed a petition for dependency-neglect on September 13, 2019, alleging that Louie was at “substantial risk of serious harm as a result of abuse, neglect and parental unfitness.”
He was placed in state custody shortly after, when he was 11. Last September, the Arkansas Supreme Court rejected a bid by the Schneiders to regain custody.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a lawsuit against the parents to recover $31,000 in charitable donations they were given by neighbors. Above, law enforcement were escorting him to hospice care in 2019
'Between gifts, meals, cash contributions, and medical transportation, the Schneiders received $31,895 in donations from consumers motivated by nothing more than goodwill and kindness,' reads the attorney general's press release.
The lawsuit also seeks fines for violations of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and attorneys fees. In Arkansas, each violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act could result in injunctions and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.
The lawsuit reads that days after being in DHS custody, Louie got out of his wheel-chair and his health greatly improved, according to THV11.
The same outlet covered Louie's story when they believed he was really terminally ill, in April 2019 when he threw the first pitch at the opening game of a local baseball team named 'Louie Strong' in his honor. The article quotes Kristy as saying, 'Louie will never play a competitive sport. He’ll never run the bases, he’ll never be able to hit a ball in a game, but he’s got the support of people who can.'
However, now he may just get the opportunity.