Brazilian Woman, 37, Jailed For Pretending To Be Autistic 12-Year-Old Child To Trick Family Into Adoption

In a bizarre case from Brazil, a 37-year-old woman has been found guilty of living with a foster family for more than a year, pretending to be an autistic 12-year-old child. Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira has been jailed for fraud and false identity after authorities discovered that she had committed similar scams across the country.

The Court of Justice of Santa Catarina in Brazil sentenced Oliveira to one year, six months and 10 days in prison, along with four months and 18 days of detention, according to a report in The Washington Post. Oliveira carried a doll, used a pacifier and drank from a baby bottle in order to convince a religious couple in Joinville, Santa Carina that she was vulnerable and in need of help.

The couple was introduced to Oliveira by a local pastor. At the time, she presented herself as Gabriele, a severely autistic girl. The couple took pity on Oliveira and allowed her to live with them for 14 months. The couple bore all the expenses and even paid for a course of weight-loss drugs for Oliveira. She used a high-pitched, childlike voice to sell her ruse and even told people she had been forced to get hormones to make her look older.

The lid over Oliveira's scam was blown open by her adoptive aunt, who became suspicious of her backstory. Upon searching her online, the aunt found reports of a similar case in Rio de Janeiro three years earlier.

Social project director Viviane Henriques and nutritionist Renata Magalhaes were the previous victims of Oliveira's scam. They had rented a small apartment for her and covered the majority of the expenses.

"People find it absurd to believe," Henriques said. "But, personally, she looked like a teenager, always wearing a coat and hood. She claimed to have autism and spoke in a very childlike way. We were heartbroken."

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Lucio Sousa, one of Oliveira's lawyers, admitted that this is how she survived on her own. "She admits that she invented an identity," Sousa said. "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."

The judge hearing Oliveira's case rejected her defence that she was mentally ill and therefore not criminally responsible for her actions. The court noted that she had acted deliberately and consciously.