Woman, 28, arrested for allegedly enrolling at high school as a 17-year-old

(NEW YORK) — A 28-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly posing as a 17-year-old student and attending a Louisiana high school, authorities said.

Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano, 28, and her mother, Marta Elizeth Serrano-Alvarado, 46, both of Boutte, Louisiana, were each charged Tuesday with one count of injuring public records, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office said.

Serrano-Alvarado allegedly used a fraudulent passport and birth certificate to enroll her 28-year-daughter at Hahnville High School in Boutte during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the sheriff’s office.

School officials launched an investigation after getting “a tip that a female student, who was on record as being 17 years old, was in fact an adult possibly in her mid 20’s,” the sheriff’s office said. School officials then relayed their findings to the authorities on May 29, the sheriff’s office said.

St. Charles Parish Public Schools confirmed in a statement Tuesday that school officials notified the sheriff’s office that fake documents were used to enroll an adult at the high school. A school district spokesperson declined to comment on when the 28-year-old was allegedly enrolled or who submitted the tip to the school.

The district added that it “will enhance processes to determine the authenticity of enrollment documents for current and future students as well as modify policy and procedures as warranted.”