A 38-year-old Brazilian woman has been sentenced to one and a half years in prison for fraud after a complex deception in which she convinced a couple to take her in by claiming to be a 12-year-old girl. Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira leeched off the couple's kindness for 14 months, fabricating elaborate stories to explain her adult appearance and behavior.
Oliveira's ruse began when she attended an evangelical church in Joinville, southern Brazil, presenting herself as an 18-year-old named Gabriele seeking work. The church pastor connected her with the couple, who offered her temporary lodging out of pity. Over time, Oliveira's story escalated, eventually leading her to claim she was actually a 12-year-old girl who had fled abuse thousands of miles away in the state of Para. She further asserted that her mature appearance was due to being forced to take hormonal supplements by her father at a young age. The couple believed her claims and allowed her to live with them as their daughter.
During her time with the couple, Oliveira adopted increasingly childlike behaviors, including drinking milk from bottles and using pacifiers. She also claimed to be severely autistic and convinced the couple to pay for weight-loss medication. Her deception unraveled when a relative of the couple became suspicious of her age and, through online research, discovered reports from 2023 detailing a similar deception by someone named Amanda in Rio de Janeiro.
When police arrived at the residence, Oliveira immediately dropped her act and spoke in her adult voice. She later confessed to investigators that she had been perpetrating similar deceptions for at least 15 years across multiple Brazilian states, including Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Goias, Ceara, Rio Grande do Sul, Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Norte, and Mato Grosso do Sul.
A judge in Santa Catarina rejected Oliveira's defense that she was mentally ill and not criminally responsible, ruling that her actions were deliberate. Oliveira's legal team stated they would appeal, arguing she employed a "survival strategy" due to deep emotional distress and a lack of childhood affection. The prosecution, however, argued that a prison sentence was justified due to the financial and psychological harm inflicted on the couple.