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Woman Pretended to be Pregnant to Make Money Off Adoption Scam
A nursery set up by one of the couples defrauded by Jones.
34-year-old Roxanne Jones conned at least 10 US couples “by pretending to be a birth mother willing to give up her newborn babies,” according to The Daily Mail. Jones “demanded hundreds of dollars in living expenses, rent and groceries during her fake pregnancies.”
This story is sadly reminiscent of the surrogate mother who decided to keep the baby she’d promised a British couple. Never fear, though: Jones was caught “following an undercover investigation by CBS News after she allegedly defrauded one of their employees.” At least there’s some justice in this world. Jones faces up to 22 years in prison. Here’s how she was caught:
A producer posed as an adoptive mother and contacted Jones, then using the name Cindy Stevens, who allegedly said she was pregnant with twins and was willing to give them up. Over three weeks, the producer said Jones allegedly sent her more than 120 texts and called her dozens of times, demanding cash for food, bills and rent. The investigation culminated in a secretly-filmed meeting at a Kansas City hotel room, in which Jones is seen telling the producer she is pregnant with twins due in four days time…. When a CBS producer arrived and she realised what was going on, Jones tried to leave – but police seized her on her way out of the hotel.
Jones was charged this week with 12 counts of identity theft and wire fraud. She hurt several couples, like Holly and Mark Gonzales of Kansas City, “who turned to adoption after spending four years and $120,000 desperately trying to conceive through fertility treatment.” After securing Jones as a birth mother, the couple started building a nursery for the twins they thought they’d soon parent. A few days after their adoption arrangements began, the Gonzales’ received a call from their lawyer saying “she had checked Bennett’s background, and found the doctor had no record of her.”
The couple knew their dreams had been dashed, and yet Jones added insult to injury when she sent them a text on the day the “twins” were supposed to be born along with “a photo of two newborn babies” with the caption, “The girls were born today. I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t be here. They are two very precious babies that are going to foster care.”
Horrifying. And insane. Jones left victims in New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota and California as well.
Source and photo: Daily Mail
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2 Comments
Angie Foltz commented on Apr 15 11 at 2:29 pmThis is so unbelievable. I saw this special. She even tried to tell the cops she had to go because she had a baby in the car. There was no baby. She must be mentally unstable. Who could do this?
Jennifer Joyce Pedley commented on Apr 16 11 at 9:59 amAdoption scams are just like any other scam that happen everyday. As a birthmother, author of an adoption book and social worker I can tell you that had any of these couples gotten some outside advice they would have seen more than one obvious red flag. Unfortunately, this kind of story contributes to all the myths and misconceptions about domestic adoption that already run rampant and distract from the courage of real birthmothers (yes, like myself) who had the guts to choose adoption. This woman is a criminal — the furthest thing from who a birthmother is– and this fraud is no different than any other scam that preys on people’s vulnerabilities and emotions. But let’s remember it’s NOT about birthmothers.
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