A Bristol Township woman is accused of abusing her baby daughter and faking cancer.
Ashley Reichard, 26, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, perjury and unsworn falsification to law enforcement. She was sent to Bucks County prison by District Judge Robert Wagner Jr. on 10 percent of $500,000 bail.
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According to police, Bristol Township authorities began investigating Reichard on July 11 when the baby’s grandmother reported suspected child abuse.
At the time, the baby was being taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Hospital officials told a Bucks County case worker the 11 month old had injuries that matched up with ones connected to abuse, according to court papers filed Wednesday. The child suffered a perforated ear drum, two burns on her lower body, bruises on her body, skull fractures, a broken jaw and broken femur, police said.
Reichard told a Bristol Township detective tasked to handle the troubling case that the girl was in the care of the her father from July 3 to July 6, court papers say. Reichard said the baby was acting odd and “crying in a weird way,” Detective Greg Beidler wrote in court papers. The mother also reportedly told him the girl had bruises and trouble opening her mouth.
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Over the next few days, the baby ate some food that was cut up and went to the park, Reichard allegedly told police. They added she stated the baby began to suffer a bloody nose, bleeding from one ear and a higher than normal temperature.
“It was coming out a good bit,” Reichard allegedly said of the blood dripping from the baby’s ear.
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Reichard said she tried to take the baby to the pediatrician’s office on July 9. She also said she called again on July 10 and was able to take the baby into the office on July 11, police said.
Investigators noted in court documents that they pulled phone records and discovered she did not make a call to the doctor’s office on July 9. She did, however, make a call on July 10 and July 11. The office called back on July 10, but Reichard did not answer, court papers say.
On July 11, the doctor who examined the baby told Reichard to take the little girl to CHOP for further examination.
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A doctor told a Bucks County District Attorney and police recently the baby “felt every bit of the pain of injuries.”
Police continued to investigate the baby’s injuries and discovered the baby’s father did not contribute to them.
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When police went to serve Reichard with legal papers on January 22, the 26 year old was reported to be suffering from stage 2 ovarian cancer. That’s when Beidler alleges he saw Reichard with a shaved head and no eyebrows.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered Reichard provided Bucks County Probation and Parole Officer Rich Snyder with documents from the “Oncology team @ Fox Chase Cancer Center.” The documents contained no printed names of the signers and had several typographical errors, court papers say.
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“The letter is clearly a forged document,” Beidler wrote.
It is alleged Reichard said at hearing regarding the custody of the baby that she had cancer.
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Medical records from Fox Chase Cancer Center and another medical facility were subpoenaed and revealed Reichard was never a patient.
When confronted, Reichard “maintained she was a cancer patient at both facilities.” As of Wednesday, Reichard had not produced any medical records that are contrary to Beidler’s findings.
Beidler wrote that Reichard faked cancer and lied “in an attempt to gain sympathy for herself while falsely accusing another of inflicting trauma to her daughter.”
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Reichard also has a 4-year-old boy.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
