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W. Va. Mom Indicted On Charges She Put Fecal Matter Into Son's IV Bag

KERMIT, W. Va. (KDKA) -- A West Virginia mother has been indicted on charges she harmed her own child.

Officials say she is accused of putting fecal matter in her son's IV bag.

Prosecutors suspect she may be suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which is a mental illness in which caretakers make a child sick in order to gain attention.

The mother is from Kermit, West Virginia, but her 9-year-old son was receiving treatment from Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

It was there that authorities say Candida Fluty allegedly mixed fecal matter into her sick son's IV line.

Fluty's 9-year-old, only identified in the indictment as "E.F.," has been in and out of hospitals since he was born. He has a condition called Hirschsprungs, a congenital problem that affects the bowels.

Family members say the boy has probably spent a solid year of his life in the hospital.

In his most recent hospital stay, family members said the boy was having a problem with a blood clot, when his mother allegedly flushed his IV with saline solution.

According to the indictment, she allegedly introduced feces into the IV, which caused the boys fever to "spike."

Police say the case against Fluty is her own statements and video evidence, that video may have come from surveillance cameras set up inside her son's hospital room.

But some family members say they're shocked at the allegations. They say Fluty is a loving, caring, devoted mom. Others, however, are no longer so sure of that.

Authorities say Fluty's son is now in the custody of West Virginia Children's Services and is living with a family member.

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