Australian woman charged with mischief in false sex exploitation case

Calgary police have laid mischief charges against a woman who claimed she was a 14-year-old girl who had been kidnapped and sexually abused for several years.

At about 4:00 p.m. on September 16, a woman went into a northeast health centre and told staff there that she was a victim of an abduction and prolonged sexual assault.

She told authorities that her name was Aurora Hepburn and that she’d endured years of 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 case that was investigated in 2013 in Dublin. That case was also intensively investigated and the woman’s claims proved to be false and she was charged.

The CPS and Irish authorities then made the determination that the victims’ in both cases were the same woman.

Samantha Lyndell Azzopardi, 26, originally of Sydney, Australia, is charged with public mischief to mislead a peace officer.

“We did receive information from Interpol regarding this allegation in Ireland and we were able to get this information and lead the investigation towards who she really was. She was interviewed and was cooperative,” said Kelly Campbell, CPS Child Abuse Unit.

Police say they do not yet know the motive for Azzopardi's behavior and that she is currently in police custody.

“There were extensive resources put into this investigation. Again there was considerable impact to a lot of the professionals that were working on this investigation as we were led to believe that this was an actual occurrence and our concern was that there were victims that were out there, more victims so  again this was an extensive investigation,” said Campbell.

Police say they are working with the CBSA to determine whether Azzopardi will be deported or not.

Anyone with information about Azzopardi’s movements in Calgary is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crimestoppers through any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477

TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org

TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637