Brazil Arrests 37-Year-Old Woman Who Posed as 12-Year-Old to Secure Adoption
A Brazilian woman has been detained after allegedly pretending to be a 12-year-old girl and living with an unsuspecting couple for over a year. The suspect, using the name “Gabriele,” claimed she had escaped abuse in another state and even adopted childlike behaviours—drinking from baby bottles and using dummies—to reinforce her story. The couple developed a strong bond, hosted a birthday party for her and planned formal adoption before authorities intervened. Police say this isn’t an isolated case. Investigators linked the woman to similar scams in several Brazilian states, where she used different aliases and dramatic claims of abuse and medical conditions to win sympathy. She now faces fraud and false identity charges at Joinville Regional Prison.
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