A 38-year-old woman who pretended to be a 12-year-old girl so she could live with a family has been jailed. Amanda Maria Souza, from Santa Catarina, Brazil, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison earlier this week.
Posed as a child for free care
Souza carried out a scheme in which she posed as a 12-year-old to receive free food, accommodation and medical care from a family who believed they were fostering her. Police said Amanda, whose real age at the time was 37, presented herself to the family as a girl called Gabriele and even turned up in Minnie Mouse clothes to help fool them.
Court records reportedly show that she first approached the family through a church pastor, saying she was 18, had experience in baking and was looking for work. After the couple permitted her to stay temporarily, she started asserting that she had health issues and no money. Police said Amanda later altered her story and informed the family she was merely 11 and had suffered abuse.
Family celebrated fake birthday
The couple thought they were assisting a vulnerable child and even arranged a party to celebrate what they believed was her 12th birthday. Amanda was apprehended on 2 June this year after a family member grew suspicious, and police have since reported that she has been indicted for fraud and false identity.
When sentencing, judicial authorities highlighted the social repercussions and the emotional impacts caused to the family when they found out Amanda’s real age. The court argued that the fact Amanda had lived with the family for more than a year worsened the situation.
Similar scam in Rio de Janeiro
Earlier this year, nutritionist Renata Magalhaes, who said she was targeted by the same scam in Rio de Janeiro in 2023, claimed Amanda researched how to imitate a child and how to copy the behaviour of an autistic teenager. Renata, a clinical child nutritionist with an emphasis on autism, said Amanda's alleged act worked because autism is diagnosed through clinical signs rather than laboratory tests.
