Amanda Maria Souza de Oliveira faces fraud charges after allegedly persuading family to take her into their home

During the nearly 16 months she lived with the couple in the city of Joinville, she reportedly had all her expenses paid, a bedroom decorated with toys and children’s furnishings, and a party to celebrate her purported 12th birthday.

The couple told police Oliveira first approached them at an evangelical church they attended, introducing herself as “Gabrielle” and claiming to be 18 years old. She reportedly said she was experiencing financial and health difficulties, prompting the couple to take her in.

She later allegedly changed her story, claiming she was in fact 11 but appeared older because her father had forced her to take hormones and had sexually abused her. She also allegedly persuaded the family not to enrol her in school or formalise any adoption process, arguing that doing so could enable her father to find her.