Aurora police have charged a 19-year-old woman with theft for soliciting charitable donations for an Aurora theater shooting victim who never actually existed.

Katherine “Katie” Peroni of the 16000 block of East Oxford Drive in Aurora is scheduled to appear in Aurora’s municipal court next Tuesday.

Detective Lana Maddox said in a police report that she started to investigate Peroni after several people complained that Peroni was falsely claiming to be the caretaker for Kadence, the child of a shooting victim named Monica.

A person who donated toys for Kadence became suspicious when he received a telephone call in which it appeared Peroni was imitating a child’s voice and claiming to be Kadence.

The detective was able to confirm that no deceased or surviving shooting victims were named Monica. She also found a victim relief fund on the web site called indiegogo.com in which Peroni represented herself as the best friend of shooting survivor Monica.

When confronted by Maddox, Peroni eventually confessed that she’d made up the story and needed someone to care for her and needed money, according to the police report. Peroni later told the detective that she had returned $550 that she had received in donations.

Peroni also told the detective that she was disabled and lived off of disability payments of $698 per month.

Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747, cosher@denverpost.com or twitter.com/chrisosher