Background: News footage of Jennifer Parker in court on Nov. 19 (WLWT). Inset: Cincinnati Children's Hospital, one of the hospitals that allegedly raised alarms about Parker's behavior (Google Maps).
An Ohio mother who was accused of hospital shopping and medical abuse by prosecutors pleaded not guilty during her arraignment.
Jennifer Parker, 43, appeared in court on Wednesday to plead not guilty to three counts of child endangerment in connection with allegations that she abused her 2-year-old son since the time he was an infant. According to courtroom reporting by local NBC affiliate WLWT, Parker allegedly brought her son to the hospital multiple times for medical conditions he did not have. Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Lindsay Sheehan told the court, "Since birth, under Miss Parker's care, this child, now 2, has been hospitalized over 20 times."
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In court, Sheehan said that Parker's children were removed from her custody in May. Since then, the 2-year-old boy has not been hospitalized once and is thriving.
Sheehan said in court that two Ohio hospitals, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic, expressed concerns about Parker's alleged treatment of her son. According to Sheehan, hospital staff allegedly cited "multiple instances of the mother engaging in commission that would interfere with her child's ability to properly eat, including potentially cutting feeding lines, clamping feeding lines, providing insulin or glucose to a child that doesn't have any sort of insulin or glucose intolerance."
When it came to the feeding tube, Sheehan raised doubts that the boy even needed one. She said medical staff allegedly provided "multiple instances where the mother was not providing appropriate medical care, despite her child showing all instances and ability, for instance, not to have a feeding tube, and she was refusing to move him off that feeding tube and provide oral feeds."
In a Facebook post from Nov. 10, Parker defended herself, saying that she was not the only parent that Cincinnati Children's Hospital staff complained about. Parker wrote, "One parent not only was accused of the exact same thing by the exact same inpatient team, but we have the exact same complex pediatrician. I know there's more people. I know there are more mothers and parents and grandparents who are suffering the same allegations."
Michael Carpenter, Parker's fiance and the father of the boy at the center of the case, defended Parker to local media outlets, telling WLWT after court that Parker was "a caring mother that wanted the best for her children." He said that their son had been suffering from health issues since birth, and they had trouble finding the right care for him.
Parker was arrested on Monday and is currently in custody at Butler County Jail, where she is being held on $50,000 bond. She pleaded not guilty to three counts of child endangerment. She was ordered not to contact any of her children, who were taken away from her by Butler County Children Services. Her next court date, a plea or trial setting, is scheduled for Nov. 24.
