For Immediate Release
June 18, 2022
 
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – FDLE agents arrested April Stormy Norris, 33, of Cocoa, for one count of grand theft.
 
The investigation began in March when Rockledge Police Department requested FDLE investigate an allegation of adoption fraud. Agents discovered that Norris offered her unborn child up for adoption via an adoption agency and chose a couple to adopt her baby.
 
Investigators found that the couple paid the agency $11,362.72, which was sent to Norris for rent, phone bills, car repairs, and other expenses. The investigation showed that Norris purchased numerous baby supplies with the funds, told people she never planned to give up her child, was untruthful about knowing the identity of the father, and lied about where she was living.
 
Agents say that, shortly before the baby was born, Norris ceased communication with the agency and adoptive parents, changed doctors and hospitals and told hospital staff not to tell the agency or adoptive parents that the baby had been born. Meanwhile, she continued to receive financial support even after the baby was born, despite hiding the birth from the agency and adoptive parents.
 
The adoption agency reported the total reported monetary loss due to Norris’s actions was nearly $15,000.
 
Norris was served with the felony charge at the Brevard County Jail yesterday, where she was already in custody on unrelated charges. The case will be prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 18th Judicial Circuit.
 
For Further Information Contact:
FDLE Office of Public Information
(850) 410-7001