Durham Regional Police allege the suspects went so far as to dress one child in a hospital gown, cover their head in bandages and attach a fake intravenous connection to the child's arm to convince people of the severity of the apparent illness.

American officials say an Ontario woman has pleaded guilty in a scam to sell light-emitting devices by falsely claiming they could treat more than 200 medical conditions, including cancer, autism and HIV.

Gibson previously claimed she was diagnosed with brain cancer and had rejected conventional treatments in favour of natural healing. She later admitted she never had cancer.