The star of a group of boys accuses the ex-girlfriend of Munchausen by proxy

May 5, 2019, 10:43 AM UTC

By Corky Siemaszko

That was, as a social worker in New York City later said, a public relations nightmare.

Caterina Andorfer Lopez, a former model, and her five-year-old son Princeton, were trapped in Manhattan for six months, because the city's child protection agency suspected she was in danger. perhaps mentally ill and exaggerated the rare disorder of his brain. to keep him in the hospital – and herself in the spotlight.

But the suspicions that prompted the Children's Services Administration to open an investigation into Lopez and led to the suspension of operation New York-Presbyterian Hospital for Princeton did not appear to be raised by any of the doctors she had consulted.

The charges were first raised by a singer of the British band "Union J," Jamie "JJ" Hamblett, who is Lopez's ex-boyfriend and Princeton's father, according to Lopez and records hospital obtained by her that she would have shared with NBC News.

Lopez and Hamblett separated at the end of 2015, when Princeton was 2 years old, and they have since had a confrontational relationship, especially regarding their son and his persistent health problems.

Hamblett, who lives in England and who, according to Lopez, has virtually no contact with his son, said, according to a hospital report of 4 October 2018, that he "had heard a doctor say that surgery was not necessary.

"It seems like she wants my son to be sick," said Hamblett, according to another hospital report dated Oct. 4, 2018, written by Dr. Samantha Knowlton, an associate clinical ethicist working for the # 39; s hospital.

According to a report from the Administration for Child Services (ACS), Hamblett would have suggested to Lopez to be suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, also called proxy dummy disorder, which is a mental health problem in which a caregiver cares for the person in charge.

This prompted ACS to launch an investigation the next day that ended six months of treatment at Princeton and plunged his mother into an expensive legal battle against the city.

Princeton, who was scheduled to undergo brain surgery on October 10, 2018, was not operated until April 8 of this year.

Lopez's ACS investigation ended on Monday, April 29 in a Manhattan courtroom when Justice of the Family Judge Jonathan Shim ordered the dismissal of the case with prejudice and blamed ACS for devote as much attention and manpower to this business.

"The Commissioner has been intensely investigating this family from day one," Shim said.

The hospital records suggest a possible reason why ACS and the hospital have shown a keen interest in this case.

"The case is a public relations nightmare as BM (birth mother) is friends with influential people," according to a CSA report dated October 5, 2018.

Among others, Lopez is friends with actress Eva Longoria, who visited Princeton at the hospital. Lopez is also an ambassador for the Longoria Global Gift Foundation, which helps charities for women and children around the world.

Lopez's lawyer, Daniel Robinson, filed a notice of intent with the City of New York stating that he intended to sue the Children's Services Administration for $ 10 million. In the notice, Robinson blames Hamblett for triggering the ACS probe.

"On October 2, 2018, Jamie Hamblett, the alleged father of Princeton, although not legally established, contacted the hospital," said the legal papers.

Three days later, the hospital alerted the public child welfare services and canceled the Princeton operation to treat her Chiari malformation, a condition that causes a part of the brain to enter the spinal cord. and can cause pain, numbness, headache and weakness. hospital records and Robinson. It was the boy's third operation to correct this problem.

"I had never heard of Hamblett before, I had never heard of his music, for a second of his recording," said Robinson, an ACS lawyer for three years before to start a private practice, in an email to NBC. New. "New York-Presbyterian, however, was clearly afraid of him. I understand that in the early days, the Princeton file was not considered medical or social services, but by the General Counsel / Risk Management Officer of the hospital . "

Lopez said that she had actually been muzzled by the ACS investigation.

"My wife and mother's voices were silenced and they caused mischief to my sick son," said Lopez. "His necessary operation was blocked for six months."

Lopez said that she suspected Hamblett of having made these allegations because he was trying to protect his image. On several occasions, she published on her social media accounts calls to Hamblett for what she said "give up" her child. Lopez is a robust social media user with over 31,000 followers on Instagram and 33,000 on Twitter.

When asked if it was true that he was trying to protect his image, Hamblett said, "I do not care about that, I only care about my son and his health. It was so disheartening for me and my family. "

Lopez acknowledges having published articles on Princeton's progress or lack of progress on social media and interviewed journalists and journalists. She added that the question of what Hamblett was doing to help Princeton was frequently asked, especially since it was notorious that the singer is his father. While they were still together, the couple even presented a possible reality show about their family called "We Are The Hambletts".

That changed as Princeton's health problems progressed, said Lopez.

"It was out of place, he just did not want to be involved," Lopez told NBC News. "When we heard that Princeton was sick, he did not want people to think he was a bad father. It was bad for his image. "

Hamblett, 30, told NBC News that it was Lopez who prevented him from seeing his son. "She will not let me talk to him to see him," he said. I want to be more involved, but she will not get it.

Lopez said she did not know where Hamblett had the idea that she had a proxy disorder. She said that she had never been accused of this before. She said that Hamblett's accusation had derailed his son's operation and had turned my life into hell. "

"The minute he called and started saying these things, everything went downhill," she said.

Robinson testified that she checked Lopez's medical history and found no evidence that she was suffering from a mental illness. "It's a reasonable conclusion that Hamblett made this vile allegation out of clothing," he said.

But Hamblett told a somewhat different story. He said he called New York-Presbyterian simply because he feared his son would undergo another operation and stated that the hospital staff with whom he had spoken already worried about Lopez .

"Do you really think I could prevent a team of professionals from doing a really necessary operation?" Said Hamblett, moved by voice, during a phone interview. "When I called them in October, they had the same concerns as me. No matter which father would have done the same thing.

Hamblett said that New York-Presbyterian had called ACS, not him. "How do I know who to contact in New York?

But Hamblett did not respond directly when asked if he was the first person to suggest that Lopez could be suffering from a mental illness.

Hamblett said Lopez was using Princeton to stay relevant. Lopez regularly posts articles on Princeton on its social media accounts.

"You write a story about false allegations," added Hamblett. "All she's trying to do is get a free press, and you've fallen for it."

Lopez acknowledged that she and Hamblett were in bad terms long before he interceded with the hospital. She added accusing her of neglecting her son, of not supporting him financially, and of having shared several emails that she had sent to Hamblett with NBC News, including a dated of July 23, 2018, in which she called him a "monster".

"I told him that we were in New York and that Princeton was undergoing treatment, and he showed no interest," Lopez said.

A NBC News reporter who contacted ACS for comments was directed to Nicholas Paolucci of New York's Legal Department.

"ACS's top priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of New York City children," Paolucci wrote in an e-mail. "We will consider the complaint, if and when it will be filed, and react accordingly."

NBC News also made contact with Presbyterian New York for comments and with patient registrar Mercedes Reyes, with whom Lopez had been in contact.

"The New York-Presbyterian refuses to comment and can not discuss specific cases because of the confidentiality of HIPAA data / patients," police spokeswoman Dominique Grignetti said in an email.

Lopez, 31, grew up in Arizona. Several celebrity websites identify her as a Jennifer Lopez cousin.

"I'm not her cousin," she told NBC News. But the actor Jeremy Andorfer-Lopez is his older brother, she said.

Lopez worked as a model and starred in several Bollywood films – though she's not Indian – before meeting Hamblett by chance in February 2013 in a London lounge. Nine months later, Princeton was born.

The couple split up in December 2015, Lopez said.

"His goal of being a father was not a priority and was really absent from Princeton's life," said Lopez about Hamblett. "When JJ was dropped from his label in 2015, he became extremely depressed and blamed his failed musical career on Princeton and me."

Hamblett refused to comment on why Lopez and he separated.

Lopez said Princeton started falling ill in February 2017 after returning to Arizona. The child eventually was admitted to a Phoenix hospital, after which Lopez, worried, said he had consulted with several local specialists before contacting Jeffrey Greenfield, a pediatric neurologist surgeon based in Manhattan, for a second opinion. It's on his recommendation that Princeton underwent its first operation in May 2017 in Arizona, she said.

"I called JJ and he came to Arizona to be with his son," said Lopez, adding that she had to "beg" Hamblett to come and describe the reunion as being tense.

Hamblett denied that Lopez had to beg him to come. "As soon as I heard the news, I flew to Arizona," he said.

But the operation did not correct the problem and Princeton had to undergo a second operation in September 2017, Lopez said.

"My son was going through a very difficult time and was in the emergency with a fluid in the back of the brain," she said.

Lopez stated that she had again contacted Greenfield and that she had taken Princeton to the New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan in July 2018, where the doctor had inserted a monitor into Princeton's skull. to measure his brain pressure. Greenfield then scheduled a third operation on October 10, 2018.

Then, on October 2, 2018, Hamblett called the hospital and told the staff there that he had never given his consent to another operation, according to a report by ACS. dated October 5, 2018.

ACS alleged that Lopez "gave a false representation of the information she had given to the hospital about Princeton's father". The report stated that Princeton actually suffered from a Chiari malformation, but that Lopez "was making symptoms and that it was raising alarm signals" doctors in Arizona.

"That's not to say that Princeton did not need brain surgery, but there's a way for BM to portray Princeton's disease online and say that it's telling him free trips," says the report. . "BM has made Princeton extremely sick, but he is not as sick as he claims."

Lopez said she was upset when ACS began investigating her. She said that she was to bring her mother and sister from Arizona after several weeks of prohibition to join him at Princeton. She added that a friend had lodged her in an apartment in Manhattan while she was leading a legal battle against ACS.

"In my opinion, ACS deliberately tried to take Princeton and give it to JJ," said Lopez.

Hamblett said that he had never intended to tear Princeton's guard away from his mother. "I even told him I'm not here to kidnap you, son," he told NBC News.

Pediatric surgeon David Moss, who performed the first two operations on Princeton, confirmed in a letter written in January and provided to NBC News by Lopez that he had spoken to an ACS worker.

But Moss disputed a hospital report dated October 11, 2018, in which he would have been worried about Lopez publishing Princeton on social media and exaggerating the severity of his illness.

"Dr. Moss said he was a doctor for more than 30 years and that he had seen many cases of Munchausen by proxy, "the report says. "He stated that he did not believe that BM (birth mother) had started like this."

However, Moss wrote in his letter: "Many of the statements in the letter provided to me are inaccurate and reflect unintended consequences. I have never been informed that this information should be documented in any format. "

When a reporter from NBC News called to talk to Moss, he was invited to call what was called the "law firm" of his office. No one answered the phone despite repeated calls.

The wind turned in favor of Lopez on March 12, after Greenfield testified about Princeton and his status before Judge Shim, according to available records.

In a 29 March letter to Reyes, the New York prescribing patient clerk, Lopez said he spoke to Greenfield and was given the go-ahead to continue the Princeton operation.

But on April 1, Lopez filed a police report with the NYPD, saying Hamblett "refuses to take responsibility for his child" by refusing to give consent to the surgery. Hamblett was not charged with a crime and, although he never consented to the operation, Shim decided that the operation could go from there. # 39; before.

Lopez said that the Princeton operation had been a success and almost immediately after Shim had spoken in her favor and the ACS investigation had ended, she and Princeton had started returning home to Arizona.

"I do not look back," she says.