An adult woman allegedly posed as a Boston high school student. Now she’s facing criminal charges.

A 32-year-old woman is now facing criminal charges after she was accused of posing as a Boston Public Schools student and attending three different high schools.

Former state social worker Shelby Hewitt was charged Tuesday in the West Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court. She faces several charges, including document forgery, identity fraud, and “uttering false or forged records, deeds or other writings,” according to a copy of the docket provided to Boston.com. 

It was not clear Wednesday afternoon whether Hewitt had retained an attorney.

In a letter to parents last week, Superintendent Mary Skipper said an adult woman used fake identification and paperwork to register and transfer schools under multiple pseudonyms. The woman attended Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester, Brighton High School, and English High School in Jamaica Plain during the 2022-2023 school year, Skipper said. 

“I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student,” Skipper told The Boston Globe in a statement. “This appears to be a case of extremely sophisticated fraud.”

The woman was caught after a BPS staff member noticed “irregularities” in her paperwork, according to Skipper. A BPS spokesperson declined to comment on the charges against Hewitt.

The criminal complaint against Hewitt, a Canton resident, does not indicate her motives in attending the high schools, the Globe reported. 

A police report obtained by the Globe shows that officers executed a search warrant at a Jamaica Plain home shared by Hewitt and two other people who allegedly posed as her parents. According to the Globe, police found five forged Lowell Juvenile Court documents for individuals referred to as DBH and EAH, as well as forged Department of Children and Families documents with custody information for DBH and EAH. 

Hewitt allegedly went by “Daneilla” at Burke High School and “Ellie” at English High School, the newspaper reported.

Many unknowns still remain in Hewitt’s alleged scheme, which unnerved students, parents, and city leaders alike. 

During an appearance on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” Monday, Mayor Michelle Wu acknowledged the general sense of shock surrounding Hewitt’s alleged actions, as well as the community’s frustration that an adult woman took advantage of resources intended for Boston’s students.

“It’s extremely disturbing, right? If someone told me that an adult many decades removed from being in some of these age-appropriate settings was back in school — it’s concerning,” Wu said.

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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