A woman who claimed to be a 14-year-old eastern European sex slave trafficked illegally to Canada has turned out to be a fraudster and serial fantasist.
Samantha Lyndell Azzopardi, 26, originally from Sydney, Australia, walked into a health centre in Calgary on September 16 alleging she was a 14-year-old who was the victim of an abduction and prolonged sexual assault, Canadian authorities said on Monday.
Using the alias Aurora Hepburn, Ms Azzopardi allegedly told investigators she had endured years of violent sexual abuse and torture. Investigators and health care workers spent weeks on the case to establish the extent of her abuse and provide services for her recovery.
On October 2, Calgary police were told about a similar world headline-making case that was intensively investigated in 2013 in Dublin. That woman’s claims proved to be false and she was charged.
After liaising with Irish authorities, Calgary police determined the woman in Dublin was the same woman representing herself as the minor Aurora Hepburn in Canada. Azzopardi has been charged with public mischief to mislead a peace officer and faces up to five years’ jail.
Due to her use of multiple aliases, Calgary police have released a photo of Ms Azzopardi in the hope the public can provide information about her movements in Calgary. Irish authorities also took the rare step of releasing her photo last year after she was found wandering Dublin streets and led Irish police to believe that she was a teenage sex-trafficking victim. The Irish police struggled to identify her as an Australian citizen because she did not appear to speak English and was unable to communicate to police who she was or where she was from.
Ms Azzopardi drew pictures apparently showing herself being raped, forcing Irish police to release the photo of her in a bid to find her identity. Once she was identified as an Australian citizen, Ms Azzopardi’s long and troubled past came to light and raised questions about how she has been allowed to ricochet around the mental health system in Australia.
Ms Azzopardi was sent back from Ireland to Australia, where she had a history of fraud-related charges. She first came to the attention of authorities in Rockhampton in November 2007 when she falsely represented herself as Lindsay-Lana Jonbenet Coughlan, with intent to defraud. In September 2010, a Samantha Azzopardi was charged with posing as student Dakota Johnson at Brisbane State High School. At the time she would have been 21 or 22.
It is not clear when or how she entered Canada. The Australian Federal Police declined to comment on the case, saying it was a matter for Canadian authorities.
