ST. CHARLES PARISH (WVUE) - Authorities in St. Charles Parish say the 28-year-old woman accused of using fake documents to enroll as a Hahnville High School student was not trying to hurt any kids.

Sheriff Greg Champagne held a press conference Wednesday afternoon, saying he wanted to ease parents’ minds.

“The young lady caused no problems, she did nothing inappropriate with the other students, kept to herself, went home, didn’t engage in any other criminal or inappropriate behavior,” said Champagne.

46-year-old Marta Elizeth Serrano-Alvarado and her 28-year-old daughter Martha Jessenia Gutierrez-Serrano were booked with one count each of injuring public records.

Champagne says the two created a fake passport and birth certificate from Honduras so that Gutierrez-Serrano could get a good education and better her English.

Sheriff Champagne says the mother was in the country on an expired visa and the daughter has documentation of being processed by the federal government, coming into the U.S. in late fall of 2021. But he was unable to comment on their most current immigration status.

St. Charles Parish Public Schools superintendent Dr. Ken Oertling plans to audit all enrollment records of current students and evaluate from there.

“It’s my sincere hope that this particular incident will bring awareness to school systems in Louisiana and throughout our country, the need to review and enhance their student enrollment processes,” said Oertling.

Neither Champagne nor Oertling would go into detail about the 28-year-old student’s involvement in any clubs, athletics, or extracurricular. They cited FERPA-- the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act-- saying they are protecting the privacy of their students.

“Whether it’s the student we’re mentioning today or any student in our schools, we’re not going to mention anything about something that may be linked to a potential student record, which could include activities they belonged to, their grades, disciplinary purposes, and so on and so forth,” added Oertling.

Fox 8 legal analyst Joe Raspanti thinks the case won’t make it very far.

“This woman thought enough about learning English and getting an education that she put herself at risk to do that,” said Raspanti. “I’m hopeful that these charges get dismissed because she was trying to get herself educated. By all accounts, she didn’t harm anyone. I think she should get a medal and be held up as an example for the kids who cut class.”

Both women were held on $30,000 bonds for their alleged crimes. Sheriff Champagne says they made that bond within a few hours of booking and were released from custody.

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