A 28-year-old Louisiana woman was arrested on Tuesday for posing as a 17-year-old student during the 2022-2023 school year.
The St. Charles Parish School System contacted police in late May, after receiving a tip that a student may have been in their mid-20s. A police investigation determined that the mother, Marta Elizabeth Serrano Alvarado, 46, used a fake passport and birth certificate to enroll Martha Jessenia Gutierrez Serrano in high school, according to Nola.com.
ABC News reported that Gutierrez Serrano enrolled in school so she could learn English. She allegedly entered the high school as a ninth grader.
“She was in school, she minded her own business, she did her schoolwork, she caused no trouble,” St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said. “She wanted to learn English.”
Champagne said the mother had been in the country for several years on an expired visa. The daughter reportedly came to the country in 2021, and, according to Champagne, she could “very easily be taken for a young teenager.”
The mother and daughter are charged with injuring public records. An investigation is ongoing.
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