High School Student Exposed as 28-Year-Old Woman: Louisiana Police

A 28-year-old woman has been arrested after she allegedly enrolled in a Louisiana high school and pretended to be a student, according to police.

The St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office said school officials notified detectives about a possible adult attending Hahnville High School in Boutte, west of New Orleans, during the 2022-2023 school year.

Following an investigation, police later arrested Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano, 28, and her mother Marta Elizeth Serrano-Alvarado, 46, both of Boutte.

They were charged with one count each of injuring public records, which carries up to a five-year prison sentence or $5,000 fine, or both in the first degree, and up to two years imprisonment and a $4,000 fine or both in the second degree.

A police spokesperson said in a Facebook post: "School administration received a tip that a female student, who was on record as being 17 years old, was, in fact, an adult possibly in her mid-20s. School administration began an internal investigation and later notified the sheriff's office of their findings.

"Through investigation, detectives learned Gutierrez-Serrano's mother, Serrano-Alvarado had enrolled her in school using a fraudulent passport and birth certificate."

Detectives then applied for and were granted arrest warrants for both. The investigation was carried out with the full cooperation of the St. Charles Parish Public School System, according to police.

Police didn't reveal a possible motive for the alleged age falsification and what Serrano-Alvarado did at the school.

Anyone with information relating to the investigation is asked to contact Sergeant Allan Tabora with the St. Charles Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Division at (985) 783-6807, (985) 783-1159, or email atabora@stcharlessheriff.org.

Newsweek has contacted the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office for comment via email.

There have been other instances across the U.S. where adults have posed as high school students.

In 2021, Audrey Nicole Francisquini, 28, was arrested after she allegedly entered a Florida school and posed as a student.

She is alleged to have carried a skateboard, and a painting and dressed similarly to other students in a bid to blend in.

A police report obtained by the Miami Herald noted she was distributing fliers to promote her personal Instagram account.

Security flagged Francisquini as a potential threat to the school and she took off into the faculty parking lot on foot.

The Miami Herald reported that she was arrested later in the day at her home by North Miami Beach Police, who found her via social media.