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A Florida foster mother has been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged illegal adoption scheme involving her son, according to officials.
Tina Scee, 54, fostered a 2-year-old disabled boy and then adopted him in late 2017, according to a news release from The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which reportedly started investigating the foster mother in 2018 after being contacted by the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
While a foster parent, Scee, of Interlachen, reportedly presented herself as a DCF worker trying to find adoptive homes for children.
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Tina Scee has been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged illegal adoption scheme involving a young boy, according to officials. (St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office)
A couple from Ohio visited Scee to meet the boy and were told he was available for adoption, authorities said. They added that after she met the couple, she let the child return to Ohio, but allegedly told them they would have to come back to Florida several times before the adoption was complete.
In September and October 2017, Scee allegedly ordered the couple to bring the child back to Florida several times to deceive DCF personnel during site visits, making it look like she was taking care of the boy full-time.
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During that time, Scee was receiving federal benefits for the child totaling nearly $4,000, according to The Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Scee told the couple to fly the child back to Florida on Oct. 31, 2017, for her final adoption hearing, where she was granted the adoption, officials said.
The boy then returned to Ohio -- but when the couple could not obtain the legal documents needed to complete the adoption, the pair contacted Florida Community Partnership for Children (CPC) for legal guidance, according to authorities. CPC then contacted DCF, they added.
Scee has been charged with organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, illegally placing a child for adoption and perjury.
Scee turned herself in on Friday and was released less than six hours later on $20,000 bond, court records showed. Scee did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
A judge finally gave full custody of the boy to the Ohio couple this past February. At the time, Scee did not respond to requests for comment and her attorney answered “no comment” to all questions asked by Fox 30.
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Scee received no money from the Ohio couple, officials said.
Interlachen is about 65 miles southwest of Jacksonville.
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