A Texas mother once accused of fabricating her young daughter’s medical issues—allegedly subjecting the child to unnecessary procedures—has been “fully exonerated,” her attorneys say, following a grand jury’s decision not to indict and new findings suggesting key medical records had been manipulated.
Jessica Gasser, who was previously charged with felony injury to a child and medical child abuse, is now cleared of all allegations, and her daughter has been reunited with her and her husband, according to a statement from the Houston-based law firm Connolly Schneider Shireman LLP.
The accusations centered around claims that Gasser falsely convinced doctors her 3-year-old daughter suffered from conditions such as gastroparesis and hypoglycemia—a scenario that falls under what was once known as Munchausen by proxy, now formally termed factitious disorder imposed on another.
But an independent legal review, along with repeated medical evaluations, confirmed that Gasser’s daughter did in fact suffer from the disorders Gasser had reported, the law firm said. The case against her unraveled after a grand jury in Tarrant County declined to bring charges, and a Child Protective Services (CPS) case was also dropped.
In a striking rebuke of the original allegations, Gasser’s lawyers claim the case was part of a broader “manufactured epidemic” of Munchausen-by-proxy cases in Tarrant County—one they allege was driven by local officials, physicians, and so-called child abuse experts motivated by personal gain.
“Candid emails and texts show these individuals boasting about how they could become famous—on programs like 60 Minutes—for ‘saving’ Jessica’s child,” said attorney Mike Schneider. “Months later, those same people were expressing fear and anger that they had been caught.”
The attorneys claim their team discovered internal communications among CPS, a local physician, and a county-designated “Munchausen expert,” which allegedly included efforts to manipulate the narrative and suppress evidence that contradicted their claims.
According to Schneider, CPS “knowingly presented false information to the court,” while overseeing what he described as a “severe psychological decline” in Gasser’s daughter while she was separated from her family.
Adding weight to the family’s defense, a court-appointed attorney—independent from both the parents and CPS—submitted a sworn affidavit declaring that “all allegations of abuse or neglect against Jessica Gasser and her husband are wholly false and without merit.” The same affidavit revealed “ample evidence” that someone had repeatedly altered the child’s medical records at Cook Children’s Hospital to remove prior diagnoses, including gastroparesis and ketotic hypoglycemia.
When asked if Gasser plans to pursue legal action, Schneider said the team is still evaluating the situation.
“The evidence we already have is very troubling,” he said. “But for now, our investigation will continue. We’ll decide about the path forward as soon as possible.”
