The relationship between the 34-year-old woman, who police didn’t identify, and the girl wasn’t immediately clear.
Hospital staff eventually discovered what the woman was doing and reported her to police last October, authorities said.
On Jan. 7, tests performed on the child returned positive results for unauthorized medication, police said.
According to BBC News, Detective Inspector Paul Dalton told reporters the woman raised 60,000 Australian dollars, equivalent to about $37,000, through GoFundMe donations.
Per BBC News, Dalton told reporters the child was now “safe and doing well,” and no one else was charged in the alleged abuse.
According to local police, a woman was arrested in Australia on charges that she used a variety of drugs to make a one-year-old girl ill over several months and then uploaded videos of the child online to solicit donations and sympathy.
According to a news release issued by the Queensland Police Service on Thursday, the child endured “immense distress and pain” for more than two months, from August to October of last year. The girl’s relationship with the 34-year-old woman, who police did not identify, was unclear at first.
According to police, the woman “went to lengths to obtain” illegal medication, including “old medicines” for someone else in their home, and she “carefully concealed” her attempts to give the child that medication, including while the child was in a Brisbane hospital.
According to authorities, hospital staff finally realized what the woman was doing and reported her to the police in October of last year. On Jan. 7. The child’s tests revealed that the child was taking illegal medication, according to the police.
According to BBC News, Detective Inspector Paul Dalton told reporters the woman raised 60,000 Australian dollars, equivalent to about $37,000, through GoFundMe donations.
Police said she was arrested Thursday at her home in Morningside, a Brisbane suburb, on five counts of poisoning with intent to harm, three counts of preparing to commit crimes involving dangerous objects, and one count each of fraud, torturing, and making child exploitation material.
No one else was charged with the alleged abuse, and Dalton assured reporters the child was now “safe and doing well,” according to BBC News.