'House of Horrors' animal abuse suspect indicted on fraud charges: MCAO
CHANDLER, Ariz. - A Chandler woman at the center of an animal abuse investigation has been indicted by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office on fraud charges, police said.
On Sept. 30, police announced that McLaughlin had been indicted on multiple fraud and theft charges.
Court documents reveal indictment details
Per relevant court documents, a grand jury has indicted McLaughlin on eight charges:
- Fraudulent schemes and artifices, a class 2 felony
- Theft, a class 2 felony
- Aggravated taking the identity of another, a class 3 felony
- Fraudulent schemes and practices, willful concealment, a class 5 felony
- Theft, a class 2 felony
- Theft from vulnerable adult, a class 2 felony
- Theft (unlawful use of power of attorney), a class 2 felony
- Theft of credit card or obtaining a credit card by fraudulent means, a class 5 felony
Court documents also listed the 15 aliases McLaughlin reportedly used, including "Sydney McKinley," "April Hall," "April Adrienne Addison," and others.
McLaughlin was at center of animal welfare furor
McLaughlin's name might sound familiar to some, because she was at the center of a furor involving animal welfare.
Per one of our previous reports on the matter, Chandler Police found dozens of animals on the premises of a home in the area of Cooper and Pecos on Sept. 22, 2023 in poor health and in "unbreathable" conditions. McLaughlin operated an animal rescue that she owned at the home.
"His ribs were showing, his tail also didn't really have a lot of fur on it because, of course, he was dragging himself. His wounds were on his back legs. The sores were pretty significant," said Rebecca Arizmendi with Yaqui Animal Rescue, referring to Butters, who was one of the 55 special needs dogs that were rescued from McLaughlin's home.
Butters was placed in McLaughlin's care by Arizmendi's organization.
"The most important thing right in getting our animals out safely, but it was also holding her accountable for everything else that was part of this investigation," said Arizmendi.
McLaughlin is in jail, as she faces 24 counts of animal cruelty and failure to provide medical treatment to an animal. Those charges came prior to the indictments that were announced on Sept. 30, 2024.
County Attorney Mitchell alleged that McLaughlin told other rescuers that the dogs would get access to veterans and treatment.
"I can only imagine all the other money that she collected from all these other organizations," said Arizmendi.
Per Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, McLaughlin used her non-profit, called "Special Needs Animal Welfare League," to solicit nearly $50,000 in cash and supplies. Police, meanwhile, said McLaughlin stole more than $160,000 from her mother's credit card.
"She threatened me a couple of times, and if I complained, she just pack me in the car and drop me off somewhere," said Kathleen McLaughlin, in an exclusive interview with us in 2023.
McLauighlin is also facing 77 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in a case with the Chandler Municipal Court.
'House of Horrors': April McLaughlin arrested again after animal abuse charges were resubmitted to MCAO
The woman at the center of the so-called 'House of Horrors' animal abuse case has been arrested again. The arrest came months after charges against April McLaughlin were resubmitted to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for review.