Disguised as a 12-year-old, 38-year-old woman in Brazil deceived a family for more than a year

A court in Brazil has sentenced Amanda Maria Souza to one and a half years in prison after she posed as a 12-year-old girl for more than a year in order to obtain free food, accommodation and medical treatment.

Souza, from Santa Catarina, received the sentence at the beginning of this week after authorities uncovered her unusual deception.

According to police records, she was 37 when she began staying with the family. She introduced herself to the woman as “Gabrielle” and claimed to be 12 years old. To make her story more convincing, she also wore clothing featuring Minnie Mouse.

Court documents show that her first contact with the couple was made through a pastor. At that point, Souza claimed she was 18, had worked in a pastry shop and was looking for a job.

The couple agreed to house her temporarily, but she later told them that she was suffering from health problems and could not afford treatment.

After that, her story changed again. She claimed she was only 11 years old and had experienced abuse.

Convinced that they were helping a child in difficulty, the family took her into their home. They went even further by organizing a birthday party for her, believing they were celebrating her 12th birthday.

On June 2, one of the family members began to suspect something and reported the situation. Authorities subsequently arrested Souza and charged her with fraud and using a false identity.

During the trial, the social harm and emotional impact the incident had on the family were emphasized, particularly after they learned the woman’s true age.

As an aggravating circumstance, the court also took into account the fact that Souza had lived with the family for more than a year.

Renata Magallanes, a nutritionist who claims she was the victim of a similar deception in Rio de Janeiro in 2023, said at the beginning of this year that Souza had allegedly sought ways to imitate a child’s behavior.

According to Magallanes, she had also tried to copy behaviors associated with autistic adolescents.

Magallanes, a pediatric clinical nutritionist specializing in autism, explained that this approach may have appeared credible because autism is primarily diagnosed through the assessment of clinical signs and behaviors, rather than laboratory tests.