A Brazilian woman has been found guilty of deceiving a foster family into believing she was a child, residing with them for over a year under this pretense, authorities confirmed this week.
Identified as Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira, the 37-year-old was convicted of both fraud and assuming a false identity on Thursday. This verdict was disclosed in a translated announcement from Brazil’s Court of Justice of Santa Catarina.
Oliveira lived with the unsuspecting family as their daughter for 14 months. Her ruse fell apart after the family discovered she falsely claimed to be escaping from abuse.
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira’s conviction was for fraud and assuming a false identity in Brazil. (Campo Grande Civil Police)
Subsequently, Oliveira confessed to fabricating her age and identity, as confirmed by the court.
Oliveira had been living falsely as a child for 15 years in an “elaborate fraud,” the Washington Post reported, using a high-pitched, childlike voice and even telling people she had been forced to get hormones to make her look older.
She was sentenced to one year, six months and 10 days in prison, along with four months and 18 days of detention.
One of her lawyers, Lúcio Sousa, said that Oliveira’s scheme was how she “survived.”
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira was sentenced by a court in Brazil to one year, six months and 10 days in prison, along with four months and 18 days of detention for fraud and false identity. (iStock)
“She admits that she invented an identity,” Sousa said before the verdict, according to the Post. “It was the way she found to survive. But she has been a vulnerable person for more than 20 years.
“She has lived on the streets, and there has been no allegation that she obtained any financial advantage, or committed robbery or theft, which, in theory, means the elements of fraud have not been established.”
Oliveira said she never meant to hurt anyone.
“Of course, I deceived people, I lied,” she said, according to police, the Post reported. “But I didn’t intend to scam anyone.”
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira is photographed in jail after she was convicted of fraud and false identity by pretending to be a child while living with a foster family in Brazil. (Campo Grande Civil Police)
She said she wanted to experience the love she never got as a child.
“There was a certain void in me, a need to have that kind of care, so I always sought it out,” she said.
After the verdict, Sousa said in a statement on Instagram, they would “pursue all appropriate legal measures and appeals before the higher courts.”