City Adoption Fraud Exposed After Arrest in Florida

An investigation into a Florida woman who was arrested on child abuse charges is uncovering a pattern of adoption fraud in New York, the New York City Administration for Children's Services said yesterday.

Judith Leekin, 62, who for years lived in Laurelton in Queens, was arrested for child abuse in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on July 18 after police discovered an 18-year-old woman in her care abandoned at a supermarket.

At the time of Ms. Leekin's arrest, police found four developmentally disabled adults and five teenagers in her care that were malnourished and poorly cared for, the administration said.

As the investigation unfolded, authorities discovered that Ms. Leekin allegedly adopted 11 children from at least four different adoption agencies within the New York City foster care system between 1993 and 1996, the administration said. Authorities have not found one of the children, an 18-year-old male.

At the time of the adoptions, Ms. Leekin allegedly gave multiple aliases and neglected to disclose that she had adopted children from other agencies, the administration said

The FBI and state and local authorities are looking to see how much money Ms. Leekin may have fraudulently collected from New York State, which will likely lead to stronger criminal charges, according to several reports from Florida news outlets.

The Administration for Children's Services immediately suspended payments to the aliases associated with Ms. Leekin, the administration's commissioner, John Mattingly, said.