Sarah Jayne Kelly: Munchausen’s mum keeps up paralysis façade as more jail time looms for fresh deceptions

A mum jailed for inflicting bizarre medical abuse on her young son has been warned she faces more time behind bars for ripping off taxpayers — and continues to fake illness in custody. Sarah Jayne Kelly repeatedly took her two-year-old son to hospitals and medical centres in Victoria, Queensland and WA falsely claiming he suffered epilepsy and cerebral palsy. It caused the boy to be subjected to painful nasogastric tubes and medication with potentially life-threatening side effects. The 30 year old was last week sentenced to three years and nine months’ jail for the abuse, along with lying to the WA District Court that she had breast cancer then fleeing to NSW while awaiting sentencing. And on Friday, she pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud. Perth Magistrates Court was told she claimed about $2200 in Patient Assisted Travel Scheme reimbursements for fuel and accommodation as she drove back and forth from Esperance to Perth for medical appointments, enduring radiation therapy. But two appointments were completely fabricated, one was near her home when she claimed it was in Perth and the other was in fact via phone. When confronted with the frauds, Kelly — who needlessly had her breasts removed — claimed “complete memory loss” from 2016 onwards due to a neurological condition. But her own lawyer Emma Zillessen said she was gathering cash to skip the State, panicking about going to jail. After being extradited back to WA — and denied bail — Kelly then claimed to have developed paralysis down the left side of her body. “Everyone is trying to get to the bottom of pathological lies that underlie the offences,” Ms Zillessen said. Kelly watched on via videolink from Melaleuca Prison, pushing herself into view in a wheelchair. That’s despite her sentencing judge Laurie Levy finding she was malingering. But he accepted the child abuse came down factitious disorder, a rare condition previously known as Munchausen syndrome, involving making others believe someone under your care is ill. Judge Levy cited a separate case involving a woman who lied for 18 months about being unable to walk after an assault by police, then found she actually couldn’t walk due to muscle wastage. Ahead of Kelly’s next sentencing on November 7, Magistrate Tanya Watt said the fraud offences were serious. “She’s facing additional terms of imprisonment,” the magistrate warned. Her husband Jacob Kelly is charged with sending death threats to Judge Levy and is due to face Perth Magistrates Court on October 23. In reams of now taken-down social media posts and online fundraisers, the couple falsely claimed in great detail that a different son twice had leukaemia and suffered seizures. “We will fight this again. Sometimes superheroes fall down, but they all get back up stronger than ever,” Mr Kelly wrote. The lied that the other boy at the centre of the child abuse charge also had a brain tumour and they had “lost everything to save our little man”. Ms Zillessen submitted that the couple both had mental health issues and “festered in their own damage” after having four children, who range in age from four to eight, in quick succession.