Texas nurse who injected daughter with insulin to fake diabetes pleads guilty

PALESTINE, Texas (KLTV) - A Frankston, Texas woman who faked a diabetes diagnosis for her child pleaded guilty on Tuesday before she was set to go to trial.

Ellen Rupp-Jones pleaded guilty to charges of injury to a child, exploitation of a child and aggravated assault. Online judicial records show she accepted an eight-year deferred adjudication sentence.

According to an affidavit, a doctor said that because Rupp-Jones was a nurse, she had access to fast-acting insulin and glucagon, which allowed her to raise and lower her daughter’s insulin level.

As of June 26, the child has been out of her mother’s care for four years while eating a normal diet, and has reportedly not needed diabetic treatment.

Rupp-Jones first appeared on KLTV, as part of a fundraiser to buy a diabetes alert dog for her seven-year-old daughter.

Three days later, KLTV reported the daughter had received a dog to be trained to be a D.A.D.

Child Protective Services documents allege Rupp-Jones has Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental disorder in which a person acts as if someone else suffers from an illness.

Rupp-Jones was arrested in 2019.

Copyright 2023 KLTV. All rights reserved.