The woman that police say abused her 11-month old daughter and then lied to law enforcement that she had cancer in an effort to throw off the investigation will have all charges forwarded to a trial in Doylestown.
Ashley Reichard, 26, was charged in March after an eight month long investigation by officers. The Bristol Township woman was held on charges of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, perjury and unsworn falsification to law enforcement. The preliminary hearing before District Judge Robert Wagner lasted several hours.
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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. As noted by hospital officials, the 11 month old had injuries that matched up with ones connected to abuse, including a perforated ear drum, two burns on her lower body, bruises, skull fractures, a broken jaw and even a broken femur.
While Reichard noted the child had been acting odd and “crying in a weird way,” she insisted her daughter had been in the care of her father when the incident occurred. Reichard even told officers over the next few days that the child was eating food, despite not being able to open her mouth, and going to the park, despite her traumatic injuries. Phone records obtained by investigators noted that Reichard also lied about when she called to take the child to the pediatrician, noting the office waited a day to call her back.
Police later served Reichard, also the mother to a 4-year-old boy, with legal papers in January after completing their investigation and determining the child’s father was not involved.
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Police say when Reichard was served she reported to be suffering from stage 2 ovarian cancer. Officers noted Reichard had a shaved head and no eyebrows, which she contributed to chemo therapy. While 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. Medical records from the Fox Chase Cancer Center and another medical facility were subpoenaed and proved Reichard was indeed never a patient.
Police recorded in court documents 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 remains in prison on 10 percent of $500,000 bail.
