PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A Putnam County woman has now pleaded no-contest to three different criminal charges after posing as a state employee to carry out an illegal adoption scheme. Tina Marie Scee, 57, is facing 60 days of jail time and five years of probation after pleading no contest to three different criminal charges, including organized scheme to defraud, illegally placing a child for adoption, and perjury of official proceedings.
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This all comes after state investigators say Scee falsely posed as an employee of the Department of Children and Families, looking for a forever home for children seeking adoption. One of those children is Dylan, whose last name will not be referred to due to privacy reasons.
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Timothy McGinnis and his husband, both of whom live in Ohio, seemingly adopted Dylan from Scee after she falsely portrayed herself as a state employee. In fact, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Scee would have the couple bring Dylan back frequently for visits, claiming these visits were necessary for the completion of the adoption process. In reality, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it was to deceive the Department of Children and Families into believing she was taking care of the child full-time. The department also stated that Scee received nearly $4,000 in SNAP benefits and daycare assistance while the child was living in Ohio.
Once investigators unraveled Scee’s deception, McGinnis says their son was taken away from them for an entire year and sent back to Florida, being put back in the custody of Scee.
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“Dylan is in therapy every week due to that. We still have some reoccurring nightmares,” McGinnis told Action News Jax on Tuesday.
McGinnis says he then had to leave his job and move to Florida in order to fight to gain back custody of Dylan. Eventually, the couple was able to legally adopt Dylan, but not without irreparable damage being done.
And McGinnis isn’t the only victim of Scee’s scheme. Rebecca Whitt and Erin Straus also say they were urged by Scee to adopt three children from outside of the typical court system.
According to court documents, Whitt says Scee told the couple that “lawyers would make it difficult” and that “the courts would look down on the couples because they were gay/lesbian.”
However, Whitt says she felt something was off and that’s when she went ahead and adopted the three children through the proper avenues.
Now, with Scee finally sentenced, Whitt says it’s a time for healing.
“It’s now time for healing. It’s now time to move forward,” Whitt told Action News Jax.
Meanwhile, McGinnis says Dylan, who was just two-years-old at the time of the incident, is beginning to forget some of his trauma.
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“He no longer remembers her name and refers to her as the bad person or the bad babysitter,” McGinnis said.
