Woman, 28, arrested for posing as 17-year-old student at Louisiana high school

A mother and daughter were arrested in Louisiana this week for allegedly using fraudulent paperwork to enroll the daughter, who is an adult, in a high school near New Orleans, authorities said.

The mother, 46-year-old Marta Elizeth Serrano-Alvarado, and daughter, 28-year-old Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano, face one count each of injuring public records, according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office. Conviction of the crime in the first degree can carry a prison sentence of up to five years, and a fine of up to $5,000, according to the Louisiana State Legislature. Conviction in the second degree can carry a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine of up to $1,000.

Detectives arrested both women on Tuesday at their shared residence in Boutte. The arrests came several weeks after authorities received a report from officials at St. Charles Parish Public Schools about an adult potentially attending Hahnville High School, which is also in Boutte, during the 2022-23 academic year. 

Administrators told the sheriff’s office they had been given a tip suggesting that a student, whose record indicated she was 17, was actually an adult in her mid-20s. School officials notified the sheriff after conducting an internal investigation. It is not clear how much contact Gutierrez-Serrano may have had with other students at the school, CBS affiliate WWL-TV reported.

The probe later conducted by detectives at the sheriff’s office found that Serrano-Alvarado had allegedly enrolled her daughter at Hahnville High School using a fraudulent passport and birth certificate, the office said. Authorities have asked anyone with information related to the investigation to contact the special investigations division at St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.