WOLCOTT, Ind. -- A Marion County mother admitted to putting fecal matter into her son’s IV while he was undergoing treatment for cancer, according to court documents.
Tiffany Alberts, 41, is charged with multiple counts of aggravated battery and neglect of a dependent, all level 3 felonies.
Court documents say Albert’s 15-year-old son is being treated for Leukemia at Riley Children’s Hospital.
The investigation began on November 17 when hospital staff became concerned over multiple infections that they could not explain.
Hospital staff then moved the boy to a room where they could keep him under video surveillance. That same day, Alberts was caught on video injecting a substance into the boy’s IV multiple times.
“I then saw the video dated 11/17/16 at 3:52pm which shows Tiffany Alberts closing the door to the hospital room. Tiffany goes to the side of the bed and [the child] turns away from her. Tiffany then injects some substance into his IV line.” From the Affidavit for Probable Cause.
Alberts was taken in for questioning she initially told police that she had been injecting water into her son’s IV line to “flush it” because she claimed the medicine that they were giving him burned.
She later admitted to police that she had actually been injecting the boy’s IV with his own fecal matter, And that she had done this multiple times since November 13.
Detectives found a gift bag in the bathroom of the child’s hospital room that contained a bag for a substance that was consistent with fecal matter. They also found diarrheal medication and weight loss pills.
Doctors said the child’s health improved after his mother was removed from the hospital. But court documents say because his treatment was on hold for 55 days while they treated the unexplained infections, they are now worried they may have missed the best window to keep his leukemia in remission.
