WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Experts say the case of a mother accused of poisoning her 5-year-old son to death with salt appears be an example of how social media feeds into Munchausen by proxy, a disorder in which caretakers purposely harm children and then bask in the attention and sympathy.
Lacey Spears of Scottsville, Ky., has pleaded not guilty to charges of depraved murder and manslaughter in the January death of her son, Garnett-Paul Spears, whose sodium levels rose to an extremely dangerous level with no medical explanation.
“My sweet angel is in the hospital for the 23rd time,” she tweeted in 2009. A series of reports on the case by The Journal News, which covers the New York suburbs, found she kept it up right through her son’s death, with 28 posts in the last 11 days of Garnett’s life.
Dr. Marc Feldman, a psychiatrist and forensic consultant who wrote the book “Playing Sick,” said he thinks the Internet contributes to the number of Munchausen by proxy cases, estimated from one study to be more than 600 a year in the U.S.
Her attorney said last week that the defense would focus “on the relevant facts, not fiction.” Spears’ lawyers won’t comment on whether a psychiatric defense is planned.
