34-Year-Old Posing as a 15-Year-Old Sophomore gets caught

cstar · May 18, 2014

ABC News said:

A 34-year-old Texas woman pretended to be a high school sophomore for nearly an entire school year, fooling teachers, classmates and even the woman who took her in, school officials said.

“Everyone we talked to assumed she was a teenager like she said she was, because she looked like one,” Stuart Newlin, principal of New Life Christian School in Longview, Texas, told ABC News.

“She had friends," he said. "Everybody liked her.”

It’s not clear why Charity Anne Johnson, who was arrested this week, allegedly enrolled at the school in October as 15-year-old Charity Stevens.

“That’s the mystery. We have no clue,” Newlin said.

Johnson had no transcripts but said she had been home schooled, he added.

“She came in with a guardian; there was no reason to be suspicious,” Newlin said. “Usually, parents come in, they fill out the paperwork and we take their word for it. If they come from another school, you transfer records. If they come from home school, they don’t have those records.”

Tamica Lincoln, the woman whom Johnson had been living with, was dumbfounded.

“She acted like a kid. She did her homework. She got good report cards,” Lincoln, 30, told ABC News.

Johnson even kept up a presence on social media. She posed for selfies and posted snapshots of friendship bracelets and Hello Kitty on Instagram and Twitter -- all things that wouldn’t be out of place on a high school student’s account.

Lincoln had been Johnson’s caregiver since March, after meeting the woman at McDonald’s, where they both worked. She said Johnson told her she needed a place to stay after her parents died and her sister was kicked out of her apartment.

“I allowed her to come into my house," Lincoln said. "I was just trying to be nice and kindhearted and get her out of the situation she was in.”

She discovered Johnson might be lying about her age after getting a phone call from a woman who ran a group for needy children that Johnson tried to join. The woman had run a background check, Lincoln said.

“I started looking into it. I contacted the manager that works at that McDonald’s. He pulled up her file and the date of birth was 1979. The name was Charity Johnson."

Police say Johnson is 34 years old despite jail records that list her being 31 years old.

Lincoln has since talked to several people who had similar stories about Johnson, she said.

Johnson was arrested late Monday after Lincoln called the police.

She lied about her name and was charged with failure to show identification, police said.

Johnson is behind bars at Gregg County Jail on a $500 bond.
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sources:
yahoo news not quoted, but I recommend reading this one, as it goes more into detail.
abc news

It's a couple says old now, but this actually terrifies me in more ways that one... why would someone feel the need to post as a high school student? Why would they lie about something like this? Is it something wrong with her head, was she bored? They said there was no financial problems. It just baffles me.

What baffles me even more about this story is the fact it took THAT long to figure out? There was no way for them to have figured this out beforehand? Here in Massachusetts you have to go through extensive background checks if you transfer. So how did something like this even happen?

Anyway, what do you guys think of this story? Why do you think someone would want to go back to high school posing as younger than they are? How do you think this managed to happen for this long?

Rena88 · May 18, 2014

This was a plot for a "Law and Order: SVU" episode...

It depends on how deep she went behind the scenes. I mean, the file she had with McD's gave her DOB/name so she wasn't thorough at that end of seeming like a teenager. Besides that, I would've guessed she was just trying to stay "under the radar" for some reason (bill/money problems or something), short of actually faking her death, but she evidently wasn't hurting for money. But this may be something psychological (like that Law and Order episode!) where she was just trying to find an easier time in life to live out (high school was cake compared to the real world, imo) because she seemingly had the looks to pull it off. But I don't know what her jail records involved and she could've been working some elaborate scam.

Or she's just a big SVU fan.

Krowley · May 18, 2014

The film "Never Been Kissed" just popped into my head right now.
Who knows, maybe she just wanted to relive the experience.

Amaury · May 18, 2014

How the hell did she get away with it? Her height had to give it away, no?

Sara · May 18, 2014

I'm.... Alright, I'm old... (YOU WILL NEVER GET MY AGE!!!!!!! :P *except a few who know it due to me not removing my age before* ><)

Anyway...... I always am mistaken for someone much younger. It was about a year ago that they stopped asking for my ID when I went to wine tastings, and when they did see my ID, they always did a double-take and joked that I would always be checked. But I would never pass off as a sophomore in high school. Never. How in the hell does someone get to the age of 15 at 34??? Does make-up and everything else last that long for a day and working also? And no one noticed?

And yes, I know there's a disease that keeps someone young looking for their whole lives. But I don't think they look that old.

Ars Nova · May 19, 2014

Krowley said: ↑

Who knows, maybe she just wanted to relive the experience.
Click to expand...

That's honestly all I can think of. They said it wasn't a financial thing, what else could it be? Still, very odd... Really hammers home the old axiom, "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Midnight Star · May 19, 2014

Amaury said: ↑

How the hell did she get away with it? Her height had to give it away, no?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, for example I stopped growing when I was 12 and most 15 year olds are taller than me, I'm 20 and could pass for 15. Plus you do get some very tall/mature looking kids that are actually 15. A lot of girls stop growing at around that age so if she had a youthful look to accompany that as well, it might not have been that hard.

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34-Year-Old Posing as a 15-Year-Old Sophomore gets caught

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