Woman Sentenced for Faking Child’s Birth

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Maquoketa woman has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud for duping a man out of nearly $100,000 in child support payments for a child who didn't exist.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Rose on Friday sentenced 34-year-old Johna Loreen Vandemore for one count of mail fraud and ordered her to pay $95,850 in restitution to a man she'd claimed was the father of her child.

Vandemore met the victim, who now lives in a Minneapolis suburb, through an online dating website in 2007. After meeting at least twice, she contacted him and claimed to be pregnant. She convinced him to send $1,000 monthly to her Bettendorf post office box. She sent him a fake birth certificate and pictures of another child as proof.