Sarah Kelly with her husband Jacob Kelly and three of her four children. Jacob Kelly is also facing charges for allegedly sending death threats to Sarah Kelly’s judge. Image: GoFundMe.
When mother of four, Sarah Jayne Kelly, 30, was due to face Esperance District Court for sentencing in March over the suffering of her two-year-old son, she never appeared at the courthouse.
Instead, her defence lawyer at the time received a text message that stated she was in hospital, followed shortly after by a second that said she had been discharged.
No medical certificate was ever provided.
“As it turned out, information subsequently obtained made it clear that indeed, Ms Kelly wasn’t at Esperance Hospital,” District Court Judge Lawrie Levy said during Kelly’s sentencing last Wednesday.
“Kelly was then arrested in New South Wales, having fled the jurisdiction with her husband and her children.
“She was taken before Wollongong Local Court and then extradited from NSW back to WA on April 4.”
Kelly was sentenced to three years and nine months jail on October 8 after pleading guilty to reckless conduct of a child in her care which resulted in suffering; attempting to pervert the course of justice; and breaching bail.
The court heard Kelly had taken her son to medical professionals at least 13 times across three states, falsely claiming he had been suffering from serious medical conditions.
Before the offences in WA, for which she was being tried, Judge Levy said she had presented her son to doctors in Victoria and Queensland and falsely reported that her son had experienced multiple seizures.
Her son was prescribed anti-epileptic medication and, at the Gold Coast Hospital in early 2023, she had a nasogastric tube inserted in his nose.
In March and April 2023, Kelly falsely told doctors at Perth Children’s Hospital that her son had cerebral palsy, multiple epileptic episodes per day and intermittent hyperglycaemia.
His medication dose increased and he continued to be fed through a tube, though this was removed when results indicated nothing was wrong.
Three days later at the Bunbury ED, staff reinserted his feeding tube when she told them about his “problems”.
When Kelly took her son to Esperance Hospital for alleged seizures, he was transferred to Perth where he stayed for two weeks.
Reading the facts, Judge Levy said Kelly withheld food from her son and told staff he could only be fed through the tube.
“Despite the facts that you reportedly claimed to medical professionals that [name redacted] suffered from seizures, you never provided any evidence of them, despite multiple requests… for you to video such seizures, nor were they ever witnessed by any health professionals,” Judge Levy said.
“[Name] underwent an unnecessary medical procedure, as well as being prescribed medication that, although commonly prescribed, was not without risks to the child.
“The doctors acted in good faith based upon the false reports made by Ms Kelly. The child was extremely vulnerable.
Ms Kelly breached her duty as the child’s mother to protect and nurture him.
Kelly was arrested after the Child Protection Unit at Perth Children’s Hospital reported her to police.
The court heard she admitted to some of her actions but claimed she believed her son was having seizures and thought the medical investigations were proper diagnoses.
She admitted she had received $2,000 from a GoFundMe page set up by her friend on her behalf, in which she claimed her son had Leukemia.
Judge Levy said Kelly attempted to pervert the course of justice in February this year by claiming she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was undergoing radiation treatment.
He said during that period she claimed benefits through the Patient Assisted Travel scheme to move between Esperance and Perth for her “appointments”, many of which did not happen.
She also attended psychology appointments fortnightly as part of her “cancer recovery”, which were covered by Medicare.
Judge Levy said during the legal proceedings, the state alleged she never had breast cancer, and the doctor had not written or authorised a letter.
Psychiatric reports presented to the court throughout her legal proceeding suggested Kelly was suffering from factitious disorder, formerly known as Munchausen’s Syndrome, at the time of her offending against her son.
The court heard Kelly suffered from depression and anxiety and in her pre-sentence report she had stated she endured emotional harm from her mother during childhood.
Kelly was raised in the small Wheatbelt town, Narrogin.
Her pre-sentence report said she had a positive relationship with her father.
But during court, psychiatric reports from two psychiatrists provided conflicting stories about her childhood.
The court heard she told the pre-sentence writer she was educated to year 12 and had worked in childcare and a construction company.
She told prison guards she had a degree in engineering.
As I say that’s just some of the information and conflicting accounts and reports about her background which causes me to have extreme difficulty in accepting anything that Ms Kelly has said unless it has been verified by some other independent source.
Judge Levy.
Kelly was remanded in custody in April.
Her court appearances were adjourned on several occasions, including one time when she admitted herself into hospital for reportedly losing function to the right side of her body and suffering amnesia.
Judge Levy said she had appeared in court in a wheelchair ever since.
