ST. CHARLES PARISH, Louisiana — A 28-year-old woman and her mother have been arrested after the authorities say the daughter posed as a 17-year-old high school student in an attempt to learn English.
Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano, 28, and Marta Elizeth Serrano-Alvarado, 46, each are charged with injuring public records after they were accused of using a fake passport and birth certificate in order to enroll Gutierrez-Serrano in Hahnville High School in Boutte, La., according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Greg Champagne said during a news conference Wednesday that Gutierrez-Serrano attended classes throughout the 2022-23 school year. The St. Charles Parish Public School District contacted the sheriff’s office on May 29 when officials realized the woman was not a teen.
“I have seen a photograph of her taken by the government ... and I can tell you ... she could very easily be taken for a young teenager, without a doubt,” Champagne said. “I’m not surprised at all that, based upon appearances alone, she certainly was accepted at face value (as a teenager).”
The sheriff said there was no indication that Gutierrez-Serrano was up to anything “nefarious” by pretending to be younger. She was placed in the ninth grade at the school.
“She was in school, she minded her own business, she did her schoolwork, she caused no trouble,” Champagne said. “This was simple: She wanted to learn English. She wanted to become proficient in English.”
However, Champagne said it remains a crime to present false information and that Gutierrez and her mother “made a bad decision.”
The mother had been in the U.S. for “a number of years,” Champagne said, but had an expired visa. Gutierrez-Serrano arrived in the U.S. in fall 2021.