SEATTLE, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A Washington state woman who faked a pregnancy is charged with theft and perjury for allegedly using the lie to bilk a man out of $3,500, authorities said.
Carmen Lynn Johnsen of Federal Way, Wash., allegedly told a man in December 2008 she was pregnant with his child but two subsequent pregnancy tests showed she was not, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Monday.
"Johnsen knew that she was not pregnant, yet did not inform (him) of this," a Federal Way detective said in court documents. "Instead she told him that she had a history of high-risk pregnancies and miscarriages and needed to be on bed rest with this pregnancy".
The man began paying her $700 a month to support her non-existent child, investigators said, and in total paid her $3,500 in child -support before the fraud was confirmed in July 2009.
Questioned by police in May, Johnsen admitted to taking the money while knowing she wasn't pregnant but contended that she had become pregnant later. UPI
