Teen Comes Home; Mom in Munchausen by Proxy Case Moves Out

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI – A Bloomfield Hills teen whose mother claimed she had been “medically kidnapped” has been reunited with her stepfather after 80 days at the Oakland County Children’s Village.

Edwin Santana, the teen’s stepfather since she was 6½, will share custody of 17-year-old Leiani McMichael with a state appointed guardian who will make medical decisions, WXYZ-TV reports.

Our Earlier Report

• Teen ‘Medically Kidnapped’: Mom Accused of Munchausen By Proxy

Michigan Children’s Protection Services removed the teen from the care of her mother, Rebecca Campos, last fall after doctors concluded that Campos was causing McMichael’s conversion disorder.

The National Institutes of Health defines conversion disorder as “a mental condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system (neurologic) symptoms that cannot be explained by medical evaluation.”

Under the court-ordered terms of the teen’s release, Campos must move out of the home to an extended stay motel.

Campos is due in Oakland County Circuit Court next month to answer charges that she exposed her daughter to “unnecessary surgeries, diagnostic procedures and other medical treatment based upon the parent’s exaggerated reports,” county prosecutors said.

Once she was removed from her mother’s care, prosecutors said the teen’s health began to improve.

Santana defended his wife.

“My wife was the one being accused of taking her to too many doctor’s appointments, I guess, or not enough doctor’s appointments,” Santana told WXYZ. “It just snowballed.”