ENID, Okla. — A 32-year-old Oklahoma woman is facing criminal charges after police said she lied about her 4-year-old daughter’s battle with cancer in order to receive donations from a church and others in the community.

Jessica Lynn Good appeared for arraignment Friday on three felony counts of obtaining money or property by false pretense for charitable or benevolent purposes and one felony count of child abuse.

Investigators said Good had documented her daughter’s illnesses on Facebook over the past three years, leading Good Samaritans to offer financial help of all kinds — from charitable golf tournaments to t-shirt sales. Police say thousands of dollars were raised for the family.

According to court documents, police were first contacted by Alan Seibel, associate pastor of Oakwood Christian Church. He told them he was afraid Good was using her daughter and her illness to obtain money from the church and church members.

Seibel said the girl appears to be normal, but Good told everyone she suffered from cancer and seizures. She also said her daughter was undergoing stem cell research and was on a waiting list for a heart transplant, according to the affidavit. Seibel said he had seen Good’s daughter and she did not act like a child who has gone through chemotherapy, noting that the girl never lost her hair.

Seibel told police the church has given Good more than $5,000 over the past several years because Good said her family needed it for medical expenses and mortgage payments, according to the affidavit.

Seibel said members of the church would offer help, such as assistance with travel for doctors’ appointments and watching the other children, but Good always made excuses, according to the affidavit. 

Others in the community also raised funds for the girl’s family, according to the affidavit. A May 2014 golf tournament raised $12,000 in funds and products for the girl. A woman sold T-shirts and raised $825 for the girl, the affidavit said. And a photographer set up charitable photo shoots, offering to split her fees with the family. She raised $3,100 but learned of the scam before giving the money to Good, the documents said. Some people also paid the Good family directly, sending checks or donating through several GoFundMe pages, police said.

When Enid police began investigating, the story unraveled quickly.

Enid Police Department Detective Robin Bench found multiple Facebook posts Good made about her daughter, referencing a lymphoma diagnosis, a brain tumor and numerous other medical issues. Bench learned the 4-year-old had been at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City and called to obtain the girl’s records.

Bench learned that girl had been seen multiple times for health issues; however, there was no information available that indicated the girl had any kind of cancer, and she was not awaiting a heart transplant or involved in stem cell research, according to the affidavit. 

When Bench interviewed Good at the Enid Police Department, the woman admitted that her daughter never had cancer, and that all of her Facebook and online postings about her illnesses were false, according to the affidavit.

On July 20, Detective Randy Wilson spoke with Dr. Mary Stockett, with OU Children’s Hospital Child Abuse Pediatrics, according to an affidavit Wilson filed in the case. Stockett said she reviewed some of the records for Good’s daughter and “feels it may be some form of medical child abuse.”

Stockett noted the 4-year-old has undergone therapy and evaluations that were unnecessary because of Good’s lies, according to the affidavit. She noted that “inappropriate medical care has occurred because of the false portrayal. Therefore, the actions of Jessica Good constitute medical child abuse,” according to the affidavit.

Stockett also said since the girl participated in fundraising, she must have been made to believe she has the disorders, according to the affidavit. That deception constitutes psychological child abuse, Stockett said.

On July 21, Department of Human Services spoke with the 4-year-old’s siblings. The children each said they knew the 4-year-old had cancer because their mom had told them so, according to the affidavit.

“People say all the time she doesn’t have cancer but she does, mom said,” one of the children said in an interview. “Church even stopped the fundraiser for (the girl) to go to Chicago for her Hodgkin’s lymphoma so now mom and dad have to work extra hard to get the money.”

Assistant District Attorney Jason Seigars asked a judge Friday to set bond for Good at $20,000 due to the “scope of the crimes.” Good’s attorney, Ben Barker asked the judge to release his client on her own recognizance. Special District Judge Brian Lovell set bond for Good at $2,500, telling Good, “I don’t think you’re too much of a flight risk.”

Good made arrangements to post bond following her appearance. She faces from one year in county to jail up to life in prison and/or a fine of $500 to $5,000 on the child abuse charge. She also faces one year in county jail, up to three years in prison and/or a fine not exceeding the money or property obtained on each of the three other felony charges.

Good will return to court Sept. 26 for a bond appearance.

Cass Rains writes for The Enid News & Eagle.