Woman Who Faked Cancer Held In Custody

The young woman who faked cancer and is accused of swindling thousands of dollars from charitable donors appeared briefly in a Milton courtroom Monday morning.

Ashley Anne Kirilow, unable to get anyone to act as surety, is facing three counts of fraud under $5, 000.

Because she has been unable to secure the necessary bail money, her hearing was put over until Wednesday morning at 9:30am.

There were no family members present at Monday’s court appearance. Her father spoke to CityNews.ca about his concerns for her future.

“She does need to be punished for her actions…My concern is if the punishment is too lenient, she may walk away thinking that wasn’t too bad and start somewhere else again,” said Michael Kirilow.

Ashley Kirilow is accused of defrauding donors and volunteers from her charity “Change For A Cure” out of as much as $20, 000. She has admitted to shaving her head and eyebrows, plucking her eyelashes and starving herself to pretend she had terminal cancer.

Two of Ashley’s former friends, Jackie Musial, 21, and Meredith Dejonge, 25, showed up at Monday’s court appearance to get a look at Ashley, this time sporting a full head of hair.

“She just looked quiet, she kind of scanned across the room, and I think she realized who Meredith and I were,” said Musial.

“I kind of hope that she felt uncomfortable. She put a lot of people through a lot of misery finding this out.”

In a press release, Halton Regional Police stated “An investigation by fraud bureau investigators with the Halton Regional Police Service has determined that the woman does not have cancer or any other life threatening illness and that funds raised were converted for her own use.”

Ashley has said she did this to get back at her parents for an unhappy childhood and a broken home.

“She had two loving families that cared for her and wanted her. She had every opportunity to succeed. Her life was no different than millions of other peoples…it was never enough for her,” says her father.

Ashley has commented to several media outlets that she plans to pay back the money that was raised.

With files from the Canadian Press

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today