32-Year-Old Woman Charged For Pretending to Be Homeless 15-Year-Old to Enroll in New York High School

A 32-year-old woman has been slapped with felony charges for trying to enroll and attend a high school as a homeless teenager. 

According to Fox News, the incident occurred on December 19, at a high school in the Catskill Mountains, 40 miles southwest of Albany. In a statement released by School Superintendent Anthony Taibi, the 32-year-old, identified as Michaelann Goodrich, enrolled in the Cairo-Durham school district as a 15-year-old, named Riley Madison.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Though officials were not completely convinced of Goodrich’s story, they were required by federal law to accept her because she claimed to be homeless, Taibi said. 

“The regulation exists to ensure that students who are runaway or abducted youth get into an accountable, safe environment as quickly as possible,” he added of the federal regulation. “It has worked well, but this situation highlights a vulnerability that exists.”

In the meantime, as officials conducted an investigation, Goodrich rode the school bus, took classes and had lunch on the school’s campus on December 21, the superintendent said. “We made sure that under no circumstances was she not under the supervision of a staff member.”

Since then, according to the publication, Goodrich, who lives in the area with her husband, has been charged with offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying business records and criminal trespassing. However, she has since been released.

Goodrich also already has a diploma from a California high school.