$2M Payday for Fla. Mom Accused of Abuse

Aug. 1, 2007 — -- The woman accused of abusing, starving and holding nine adults and teenagers captive in her ritzy Florida home may have received as much as $2 million in child welfare payments, authorities tell ABC News.

Judith Leekin, 62, allegedly duped four different New York City adoption agencies into allowing her to adopt 11 children, all of whom authorities believe she later abused, between 1993 and 1996. Florida authorities say that Leekin used as many as five different aliases to remain undetected while she adopted multiple children, applied for credit cards and paid mortgages with the money intended for the children.

"She received between $1.5 [million] and $2 million for sure," said Robert Vega, a spokesman for the Port St. Lucie Police Department. "But we have not gone through all her financial documents so far so the figures will probably change."

While 10 of the 11 adopted by Leekin have been found, one still remains unaccounted for.

The 10th person, who was not found in the home at the time of the police investigation, is a 19-year-old male who authorities tell ABC News has stories that echo the horrific claims made by the other nine adoptees.

And even though he had not been under Leekin's care for more than two years, authorities say that Leekin continued to collect state-issued funds on his behalf throughout his absence.

The Port St. Lucie Police Department was led to Leekin's home after locating an abandoned 18-year-old woman who told officers that her mother, now known to be Leekin, kept all of her children tied up in various parts of her Florida home.

Upon arriving at the home for initial investigations, authorities told ABC News that they found it hard to believe the young woman's story.

"The home was a beautiful, well-maintained home in a very nice neighborhood," said Robert Vega, a spokesman for the Port St. Lucie Police Department. "The landscaping is probably the nicest in the entire neighborhood."

After further investigation and being granted entrance by Leekin, however, authorities were shocked to find eight people being held hostage in one of the home's bedrooms.