PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WFLA) – A Punta Gorda woman has been arrested after she said she had hid a teenage boy she was trying to adopt.
On the evening of February 10, deputies from the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office responded to Crossroads Hope Academy, a foster care service in Punta Gorda.
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That day, authorities said the teens were allowed to go to South County Park. But when the staff tried to greet him, he was gone.
Authorities say the boy was involved in an unreported incident with 61-year-old volunteer Shelley J. Novelli.
When Novelli was questioned, she said that the last time she saw the teenager in the park she had given him food before he left.
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According to the sheriff’s office, Novelli was about to hire a teenager. She bought the boy’s cell phone, served it, gave him a laptop as an additional form of communication, opened a bank account in his name.
While in the foster home, she tried to remove him from care, so she homeschooled him, led him to work and continued the adoption process. The Sheriff’s Office said Novelli was “upset” when he told her that staff could not take this action as she was not his legal guardian. Staff asked the woman to leave contact with the children on the facility and cut off her.
Novelli suggests to authorities that he may be in Tampa, not knowing where the boy is and that he may be in Tampa, and asks the detectives what measures have been taken to find him. Detectives say Novelli missed a meeting with them and asked her to reschedule the schedule, claiming she had appointed a dentist in Venice.
The teenage phone was then pinged in Venice. The detective finds Novelli’s car boy in the dental care parking lot.
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When interviewed by detectives, the teen admitted that he planned to escape after telling him he could not visit him at a foster care home.
The boy also reveals that Novelli sets him up in a condo, visits him, and inhale the vapors of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana. He added that they drink alcohol together in the condo. During the visit, she used the codeword to let her know that it was her.
The teenager claimed that the two had no sexual relationships.
“Young people registered with Crossroads Hope Academy are already doing rough things. To further complicate their lives is not just “mother-like” but only harm them even more. ” said Sheriff Bill Plumel. “This woman made a series of poor choices. This young man. Her influence has not lasted long and hopes that he will find the right person to help him find his own path.
Novelli was arrested for obstructing the custody of a child and contributing to the child’s delinquency or dependence. She was taken to the Charlotte County Jail, where she bonded ever since.
