A 28-year-old woman walked into a Bronx high school, enrolled as a 16-year-old, and sat through two weeks of classes before anyone questioned whether she belonged there.
Story Snapshot
- Kacy Claassen enrolled at Westchester Square Academy on April 13, 2025, using the fake identity “Shamara Rashad” with a fabricated birth date claiming she was 16 years old
- The principal discovered her real identity through her Facebook page after two weeks, leading to her immediate confession and arrest on April 27, 2025
- Claassen claims a friend coerced her into the scheme to fraudulently obtain public assistance benefits, though investigators continue probing this explanation
- She faces charges of criminal impersonation, trespassing, and endangering the welfare of a child, pleading not guilty at her April 28 arraignment
The Facebook Profile That Ended the Charade
The principal at Westchester Square Academy did what any concerned administrator in 2025 would do when something felt off about a new student. A quick social media search revealed Kacy Claassen’s Facebook page, displaying her real name, actual birth date of July 29, 1997, and evidence of a life nearly three decades in the making.
When confronted with screenshots from her own social media presence, Claassen abandoned the fiction immediately. She admitted her true identity to school officials, acknowledging she was not the Ohio teenager “Shamara Rashad” she had claimed to be during enrollment.
How a 28-Year-Old Passed for 16
Education security experts reviewing the case noted that Claassen’s youthful appearance made the deception plausible, at least initially. One consultant told News 12, “She looks 16,” emphasizing the need for schools to verify identification rigorously regardless of appearances.
Westchester Square Academy, a small career and technical high school serving roughly 400 students in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx, processes new enrollments regularly. Post-COVID verification procedures had reportedly tightened across New York City schools, yet gaps clearly remained exploitable for someone determined enough to fabricate documents and backstory.
28-year-old woman attends NYC high school posing as teen student but social media profile gives her away: cops https://t.co/Hz46RrMS54 pic.twitter.com/KjUhbQvpi5
— New York Post (@nypost) May 6, 2026
The Public Assistance Angle Raises Red Flags
Claassen’s explanation for why she committed this bizarre fraud centers on an unnamed friend who allegedly pressured her into the scheme. According to her statement to authorities, the enrollment under a false teenage identity was meant to facilitate fraudulent claims for increased public assistance benefits.
The NYPD continues investigating this welfare fraud connection, though no accomplice has been publicly identified or charged. The Bronx, with poverty rates exceeding 25 percent, represents fertile ground for benefits fraud schemes. NYC has prosecuted dozens of cases linking fake identities to SNAP, Section 8 housing assistance, and education-related benefits over the past decade.
The coercion defense strikes many observers as conveniently self-serving. No evidence has surfaced showing threats or duress compelling Claassen to execute this two-week performance. She maintained the false identity consistently, attending classes daily and interacting with genuine teenagers who had no reason to suspect the classmate sitting beside them had already graduated high school a decade earlier.
The welfare system’s vulnerabilities become starkly apparent when someone successfully games multiple institutional checkpoints, from initial enrollment paperwork through daily classroom attendance, without raising immediate suspicion.
Precedent Cases Reveal a Troubling Pattern
Adult impersonation of minors in educational settings remains relatively rare but not unprecedented. In 2019, 30-year-old Mary Keegan posed as a teenager at a Connecticut high school for approximately one month before her arrest. Between 2015 and 2020, NYC authorities made over 80 arrests related to school enrollment fraud, though most involved residency falsification rather than age deception.
Benefits fraud rings operating throughout the city have repeatedly demonstrated how fake identities can unlock government assistance programs designed to help vulnerable populations. Each successful fraud case undermines public confidence in systems meant to protect children and support struggling families.
28-year-old woman impersonated high schooler in NYC for 2 weeks before arrest https://t.co/SbIdNTBcSn
— Gray Hall (@GrayHall6abc) May 7, 2026
The NYC Department of Education issued a statement emphasizing that enrollment fraud “undermines NYC Public School values” and vowing that authorities would pursue all appropriate legal action. The school offered counseling services to students and staff processing the unsettling revelation that an adult had infiltrated their classrooms.
Claassen was released on her own recognizance following her arraignment, deemed not a flight risk despite the serious charges. Her next court appearance is scheduled for June 15, 2025, where prosecutors will likely present evidence regarding both the impersonation charges and any connected benefits fraud schemes their investigation uncovers.
Sources:
ABC7NY: 28-year-old woman accused of pretending to be high school student in Bronx
