Couple faked daughter's illness, forced teen to take THC drops, warrant says

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Roswell couple face child cruelty charges after police say they forced their teen daughter to take THC drops, but that’s not all an arrest warrant says the child endured.

The warrant, obtained by Channel 2's Mike Petchenik, spells out what police say was a case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental disorder in which a caregiver fakes an illness for someone under their care.

The warrant said Jennifer and Lark Bui’s teen daughter told a tutor through Fulton County School’s homebound health care program about various abuses her parents were allegedly inflicting upon her.

The warrant said the tutor “began to suspect that (the juvenile) was not suffering from the medical conditions that her mother/suspect. Ms. Bui, claimed she was."

“Over the last approximately two years, the accused, Ms. Bui. is accused of medically and mentally abusing the juvenile victim. This abuse includes forcing the victim to take THC drops against the victim's will and sometimes by force, causing mental pain and trauma by threatening the victim to not contradict her and coaching her on what she can and cannot say when they talk to doctors about the victim's alleged medical conditions.”

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The warrant also alleges the parents would make the daughter wear clothing in which she didn’t feel comfortable, and that her parents lied to doctors in order to obtain powerful pain medications.

Police told Petchenik once they executed a search warrant at the home, they arrested the parents on child cruelty charges and that investigators from the Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS) took the teen and a sibling out of the home.

“We determined there was mistreatment of the two children,” said Lt. Noah Caplan.

Neighbor Carla Rogers told Petchenik the allegations were shocking to her.

“I think that’s crazy,” she told Petchenik. “I think the parents might need some counseling or therapy themselves."

Petchenik went by the family’s home after the couple bonded out of the Fulton County Jail, but a woman who answered the door said they had “no comment.”

The couple are due in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

Cox Media Group