Mom influencer Jessica Gasser accused of faking her 3-year-old daughter’s rare illnesses

A Texas mother and social media influencer has been busted for allegedly faking her 3-year-old daughter’s rare illnesses and subjecting the tot to medical abuse, also known as Munchausen by proxy.

Jessica Gasser, 27, was arrested on Friday after a prolonged investigation and booked into jail on suspicion of felony injury to a child.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit cited by the station WFAA, computer records obtained by investigators showed that Gasser searched for “How do you fix Munchausen by Proxy” and “is lying to a doctor illegal.”

Munchausen by proxy is a well-documented psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers lie about or cause an illness in their children to garner attention.

The affidavit alleged that Gasser had her daughter receive 28 unnecessary needle sticks for blood draws and dragged her to dozens of medical appointments across at least three states, where she was subjected to a variety of medical procedures — and for which Medicaid allegedly paid more than $200,000.

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement announcing Gasser’s arrest that the duration of the medical abuse suffered by her daughter was unknown.

Officials asked anyone who has had “social media contact” with Gasser to alert them, saying that the mom had sent messages to a friend saying that “she would delete all of her posts on Facebook about her child’s health, including private messages.”

Gasser previously posted on social media platforms under the screen name “MedicalMamaJess,” which she used to document her daughter’s allegedly phony medical struggles.

The probe into Gasser’s suspected Munchausen by proxy began in February, when an official with Cook’s Children’s Hospital contacted the authorities, saying that the woman’s toddler had been seeing multiple doctors in Texas, Ohio and Louisiana, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Investigators were told that it appeared Gasser was “doctor shopping to get what she wanted.”

The probe has uncovered that Gasser had had her daughter fitted with a feeding tube when she was still a baby.

Between Nov. 2021 and April 2022, two separate hospitals in Dallas and Austin ruled out a diagnosis of gastroparesis, or delayed stomach emptying, for Gasser’s daughter. Doctors offered to remove the child’s feeding tube because she was doing well medically, but the mom allegedly refused.

In June 2022, a doctor at McLane Children’s Hospital in Texas reported Gasser to the Department of Family Protective Services, saying she was caught on multiple occasions “venting” her daughter’s feeding bag, which “caused he formula not to go into the victim’s feeding tube,” according to the court filing.

In October of that year, the girl’s primary care provider filed a second report with the protective agency, after having no explanation for why the tot was not gaining weight.

Gasser was saying her daughter had Ketotic Hypoglycemia — a common type of low blood sugar in young children – even though a hospital in Dallas had ruled out that diagnosis months earlier.

On the heels of the two reports to DFPS, Gasser allegedly messaged a friend about deleting her Facebook, Instagram and TikTok accounts, where she had posted updates about her child’s bogus ailments, even after being told by medical professionals that the girl was healthy, according to the affidavit.

Gasser also had launched a GoFundMe campaign, where she raised more than $680 toward her daughter’s trip to the prestigious Cleveland Clinic in Ohio to be treated for her nonexistent gastroparesis — and had a charity organization pay $1,600 for the flight, the affidavit alleged.  

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation into the alleged medical abuse after learning from a Cook’s Children’s Hospital liaison that during a visit in February, Gasser’s daughter had 28 needle sticks to test for Ketotic Hypoglycemia.

Gasser continued posting about her daughter on social media, falsely claiming that she may need a wheelchair. She also repeatedly asked doctors to put a central IV line on her 3-year-old, despite being told that it was unnecessary, the affidavit stated.

In June, child services finally removed Gasser’s daughter from her care. Since then, the affidavit reported that the tot has been “thriving” and was no long receiving any medical care.