A Brazilian woman has been convicted after authorities said she spent more than a year living with a foster family while posing as a child.
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira, who is actually 37, was found guilty Thursday of fraud and using a false identity, according to a translated statement from the Court of Justice of Santa Catarina in Brazil.
Prosecutors said Oliveira was welcomed into the home and treated as the family’s daughter for 14 months after claiming she had escaped an abusive situation.
Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira was convicted of fraud and false identity in Brazil. (Campo Grande Civil Police)
The court said Oliveira eventually acknowledged that she had invented both her identity and her age.
According to the Washington Post, Oliveira had allegedly maintained the childlike persona for 15 years as part of what officials described as an elaborate deception, speaking in a high-pitched voice and telling others she had been forced to take hormones that made her appear older.
She received a sentence of one year, six months and 10 days in prison, in addition to four months and 18 days of detention.
One of Oliveira’s attorneys, Lúcio Sousa, said the deception was the way 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.”
