Can I press charges on someone who committed fraud and used one of my dependents who we've been raising & caring for since 8/2022 -12/9/2023? Can I press theft charges?

This is a tax site. You need legal advice. 

Well, I was really hoping someone would know from past experiences since this pertains to taxes and tax fraud. 

The child must have lived with you for more than half the year to be your dependent.  So, it is unlikely that you could claim her for 2022; although she may have been your son's dependent for 2022.

 

As for 2023, it may matter whether it was you or your son who could claim the child*. 

 

If someone else claimed your dependent child inappropriately, and if they file first, your return will be rejected if e-filed. You would then need to file a return on paper, claiming the child as  appropriate. The IRS will process your return and send you your refund, in the normal time. Shortly (up to a year) thereafter, you'll receive a letter from the IRS, stating that your child was claimed on another return. It will tell you that if you made a mistake to file an amended return and if you didn't make a mistake to do nothing. The other party will get the same letter you did. If one of you doesn't file an amended return, unclaiming the child, the next letter, from the IRS, will require you to provide proof. Be sure to reply in a timely manner.

References:  

https://www.thebalance.com/claiming-same-dependent-audit-risk-3193030 (audit discussion)

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/what-happens-when-both-parents-claim-a-child-on-a-tax-return/L5ejjtI9n

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/somebody-already-claimed-dependent/L6vt9aDBv_US_en_US  (TT Article)

 

*There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

.A child closely related (grandchild counts) to a taxpayer can be a “Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or  is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support
3. He lived with the relative (including temporary absences) for more than half the year
4. He is younger than the relative (not applicable for a disabled child)
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child (this essentially means that you have the parent’s permission to claim the child, if the child also lived with the parent more than half the year)
6. If the parents of a child can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent so claims the child, no one else can claim the child as a qualifying child unless that person's adjusted gross income (AGI) is higher than the highest AGI of any of the child's parents who can claim the child.

See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Return/INF12139.html