Girl, 3, Had Blood Drawn 28 Times for Medical Reasons. Police Allege She Was a Victim of Munchausen by Proxy

A Texas mother is accused of subjecting her 3-year-old daughter to medical child abuse and lying to medical staff at various hospitals in an alleged case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, according to court documents obtained by multiple news outlets.

Jessica Gasser, 27, allegedly had multiple “unnecessary medical procedures” performed on her child for an “unknown amount of time,” the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office claimed in a July 17 press release. She was arrested in Rusk County last week on suspicion of injury to a child, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Authorities allege Gasser falsified her 3-year-old daughter’s condition to medical providers, causing them to draw the child’s blood 28 times, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WFFA, Fox 4 News, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 

An investigation into Gasser’s alleged abuse began in February, when a liaison with Cook’s Children’s Hospital told authorities about suspected medical child abuse after learning Gasser had been seeing multiple doctors for her child at about a dozen medical facilities in Texas, Louisiana and Ohio, per the affidavit. The medical professionals reportedly accused Gasser of “doctor shopping.”

During one hospital visit in March, the 3-year-old was given a feeding tube after Gasser allegedly told medical staff that her child was not eating and losing weight, despite providing the girl with a sufficient amount of calories, the affidavit states. However, doctors became suspicious of Gasser because the child was still not gaining weight after some time. 

According to the affidavit, Gasser claimed her daughter had Ketotic Hypoglycemia, a blood sugar illness.

In another instance, the affidavit claims Gasser and her daughter reportedly flew from Dallas to Cleveland through a company called Miracle Flight, which provides flights to children with medical complications. She claimed her child had gastroparesis, a condition that prevents proper stomach emptying.

Several doctors later ruled out both of those diagnoses.

The affidavit states Gasser also created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to take her daughter to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for medical treatment.

During the alleged abuse, authorities said Gasser chronicled her child’s health journey on social media. She had about 24,000 followers on TikTok, where she reportedly posted videos multiple times a day about the victim’s medical journey and frequently interacted with her viewers, per the affidavit. Gasser reportedly made similar posts on her Facebook and Instagram accounts.

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Gasser is also accused of sending “messages to a friend stating she would delete all social media posts about her child’s health, including private messages,” the release claims. She had reportedly gone by the social media screen name “MedicalMamaJess.”

According to the affidavit, Gasser allegedly conducted a number of online searches on her cell phone in June, including “Is lying to a doctor about a child illegal,” “how do you fix munchausen by proxy,” and “Tarrant County medical child abuse cases.”

Gasser is being held in Tarrant County Jail, records show. It’s unclear if she has entered a plea or retained an attorney to comment on her behalf.

“They’re presenting a false medical history to a medical provider, who relies on that history to form a diagnosis,” Det. Michael Weber claimed, per WFAA. “This abuse is not rare. It’s rarely recognized and even more rarely investigated.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.