In South Australia's District Court on Wednesday, Judge Geraldine Davison said she refused to accept that gambling and financial difficulties were the root cause of Michelle Bodzsar's offending.
The West Lakes mother, 45, had pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in acts likely to cause harm to her young son and 10 counts of deception.
She has been in custody since her arrest in December 2024 after being accused of forcing her distressed son to take pseudo medicine while falsely portraying that he had cancer, securing thousands in donations from the community.
"You attribute much of the root cause of this offending to financial difficulties, saying that you felt you were living beyond your means and needed to provide for your family with the latest fashions," Judge Davison said.
"I do not accept that … your offending is far more cruel and manipulative … It was designed as an attention-seeking device."
Her son had sustained an eye injury in a trampoline fall in September 2024 and tests by an ophthalmologist had cleared him.
But she told her husband, Ben Miller, that their son had cancer, and scans had revealed three tumours on his optic nerve, requiring eight rounds of treatment in the form of radiotherapy.
She uploaded social media posts with pictures showing her son with a shaved head, requesting donations to her son's bank account.
Bodzsar had transferred more than $5000 to her account for daily living and also received thousands in cash donations.
The harm caused to her son was perpetrated on a daily basis by giving him pseudo medication and forcing him to take it "even when he clearly did not want to", the judge said.
"It is a form of child maltreatment and child abuse."
The local school community also experienced shock, betrayal, anger, and a profound sense of shame and embarrassment, the court heard.
"They feel shame for being naive and embarrassed for not spotting the lies earlier," the judge said.
Outside court, Mr Miller said that "no sentence will ever justify what was done to my children".
He was initially arrested but had "absolutely no idea what was going on", the judge said.
"Your crimes have resulted in him losing his job, his career, and being unable to get work because he was on home detention, and no contact with his children for almost seven months," she said to Bodzsar .
Their son was now "angry and sad for no apparent reason" and their daughter was anxious about being abandoned and has been deeply affected, the judge said.
Bodzsar was given a head sentence of four years, three months and 20 days, with a non-parole period of two years and four months, meaning she will be eligible for parole in a year.
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