Accused Adoption Scammer Got 8 Kids In 4 Months By Using Aliases In NYC, Officials Say

Thursday, August 2nd 2007, 4:57 pm

By: News On 6

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ A woman accused of abusing her 11 adopted children and bilking New York City out of more than $1 million gained custody of the kids by using four fake names, authorities said Thursday.

Judith Leekin, 62, of Port St. Lucie, used the aliases at different agencies in New York City to adopt the children between July 1988 and April 1996, never using her real name, said Sharman Stein, spokeswoman for the New York City Administration for Children's Services.

Leekin received $1.26 million in stipends to help care for them, Stein said.

Authorities in Florida say she received as much as $2 million from New York City. They say the children _ now between 15 and 27 years old _ told them Leekin never allowed them to attend school.

Authorities allege Leekin used the children to line her pockets with subsidy payments while abusing and neglecting them. She is accused of handcuffing the children and tethering them together at night, forcing them to sleep on a cold tile floor and soil themselves because they weren't allowed to use the bathroom.

She is charged with 10 counts of abuse, among others. She could face as many as 190 years in prison if convicted of all counts, prosecutors said.

Her attorney, Mario Garcia, said he has filed a not guilty plea. Her arraignment is set for Aug. 17.

``She indicated that she loved these children, that she took care of them,'' Garcia said this week. ``She nurtured them and fed them.''

Port St. Lucie police have said that Leekin would likely face more charges and that others could be arrested for helping her. They would not elaborate.

Leekin adopted her first child using an alias in July 1988, Stein said. She then adopted three more kids under another alias in May 1993, and three more using yet another fake name in June 1994, she said.

She adopted two more kids _ one in December 1994 and one in June 1995 _ using that same alias. Leekin then adopted two more children under a fourth false name in April 1996, Stein said.

The Florida Department of Children and Families investigated a complaint of child abuse against Leekin in 1999, but the case was later closed and the records are sealed.

``There was absolutely no indication of child abuse on any of the victims that they saw at that time,'' department spokeswoman Ellen Higinbotham said.

However, New York City officials said they have no record of Florida ever contacting them in 1999. If they had, it might have raised red flags since Leekin never used her real name to adopt the children.

Higinbotham could not say whether such a call was made. However, she said investigators from the Department of Children and Families would not be required to determine whether the kids were adopted or where they were from.

People who adopt special-needs children in New York City can get as much as $55 a day until the child turns 21. All the children Leekin adopted were deemed to have special needs, she said, but she wouldn't specify their disabilities.

Police were still searching for an 18-year-old believed to have been among the 11 adopted children.