Woman Charged In Adoption Fraud
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A Florida woman who allegedly defrauded the New York City foster care system out of $2 million was charged yesterday with a litany of crimes, authorities said.
Judith Leekin, 62, who allegedly handcuffed her 11 adopted children and kept them captive inside her Port St. Lucy, Fla. home, faces 160 years in prison for child and elderly abuse crimes, Florida prosecutor, Ajay Whittemore, told the Associated Press.
Ms. Leekin, who is from Queens, allegedly adopted the 11 children, four of whom are mentally disabled, from at least four different adoption agencies in New York between 1993 and 1996 using a series of aliases, authorities said.
