Mom tied to QAnon convicted of plotting to kidnap son from foster care

A Colorado mom who lost her son to the foster system was convicted Friday of plotting with QAnon conspiracy theorists to kidnap him back.

Cynthia Abcug, 53, had her son taken away in 2019 when he was 7 years old because she kept making up fake medical ailments for the boy.

In response, she started plotting ways to get him back. She reached out to people online and came across the QAnon movement, which believes a “deep state” cabal working against Donald Trump runs the world and eats children.

This undated booking photo provided by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, in Colorado, shows Cynthia Abcug.

In her spiral into conspiracy, Abcug began working with a man she’d never met before to plot a “raid” on her son’s foster home. Despite her unfamiliarity with the man, Abcug invited him to sleep at her home and bring a gun.

At that point, Abcug’s teenage daughter, who was still in her custody at the time, alerted authorities. The girl said she was worried someone would get hurt in the “raid” because the man carried a gun and her mother referred to “evil Satan worshippers.” Abcug was arrested in December 2019 and she lost custody of her daughter.

Investigators found QAnon bracelets with the conspiracy’s phrase “Storm Is Upon Us” at Abcug’s home.

While in foster care, Abcug’s son had no major health issues, according to authorities. That was despite Abcug claiming at various times that her son had a seizure disorder and that he was terminally ill.

At trial, Abcug denied having anything to do with QAnon and denied lying about her son’s medical condition. Jurors didn’t buy it. She was convicted of conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor child abuse.

Faking a child’s illnesses has been tied to a disease called Munchausen syndrome by proxy — an attention-seeking, psychological disorder in which parents or guardians make up an illness or injury for those in their care. A different Colorado woman was sentenced to 16 years in prison earlier this year for killing her daughter by lying about her medical conditions for years.

With News Wire Services