A bizarre case out of New York has left parents and online viewers stunned after a “baby-faced” woman was accused of posing as a teenage student and blending into a high school for weeks.
Authorities alleged that 28-year-old Kacy Claassen enrolled under a fake identity and spent time around students before school staff grew suspicious.
Highlights
- A 28-year-old woman enrolled at a Bronx high school by posing as a 16-year-old student for nearly two weeks.
- The school principal confronted the woman after a social worker discovered her true identity through a linked social media account.
- The suspect’s ex-husband revealed she had a "vivid imagination" and previously struggled with homelessness before moving to New York.
The case quickly divided people online, with many questioning how something like this could have happened in the first place, while others wondered what her real motive might have been.
“I swear I saw this on an episode of Law & Order SVU,” one person commented.
Authorities revealed Kacy Claassen enrolled as a 16-year-old using fake information
Image credits: Kacy Claassen/Facebook
According to reports from News 12, WABC, and NBC New York, the 28-year-old allegedly enrolled at Westchester Square Academy in the Bronx on April 13, 2026, while posing as a teenager named Shamara Rashad.
Authorities revealed she listed a birth year that would have made her 16 years old.
The case felt similar to Never Been Kissed, a 1999 film starring Drew Barrymore, in which Barrymore plays a 25-year-old journalist who returns to high school while working on an undercover assignment.
Image credits: Kacy Claassen/Facebook
Unlike the movie’s plot, Claassen is currently facing criminal charges related to the allegations.
Prosecutors claimed she told school officials that she had recently moved from Ohio to New York and was now living with her sister.
For nearly two weeks, Claassen allegedly attended classes and moved through hallways without raising significant concerns. Students later said she behaved similarly to other students.
“I saw her in the back of the class, doing her work,” sophomore Sebastian Hernandez, 16, told Gothamist.
“She just acted like a student. She was asking teachers questions. Like everybody.”
Claassen attended school by posing as a child for nearly two weeks before staff grew suspicious and questioned her
Image credits: Kacy Claassen/Facebook
School officials eventually became suspicious after a social worker reportedly discovered a Facebook account linked to Claassen’s real identity and age.
Authorities stated the school principal confronted her with the information. Investigators reported that Claassen later said she had provided false information.
The school immediately contacted the police.
Image credits: Kacy Claassen/Facebook
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Claassen was arrested on April 27 and later charged with endangering the welfare of a child, criminal impersonation, trespassing, possession of a forged instrument, and other offenses.
She has pleaded not guilty.
The school was placed on a temporary hold while officers arrested her on campus. During that time, students and staff remained inside classrooms while authorities handled the situation.
Officials later held a town hall meeting for concerned families, while Principal Gregory Fucheck informed parents that the investigation was ongoing.
As Claassen’s real identity was revealed, her ex-husband broke his silence surrounding the case
Image credits: James Claassen/Facebook
As questions grew around Claassen’s alleged actions, the Daily Mail later uncovered details about her past and spoke with her former husband, Kenneth Ault.
Ault said he met Claassen when she was 19 while working in Kansas. He described her as someone with “a vivid imagination” and said she often talked about moving to New York to pursue acting.
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“She aspired to be an actress, and would talk about New York,” he said. “So whatever is going on is beyond me.”
The former couple married in 2021 and later had a daughter. However, their relationship reportedly became difficult and eventually ended in divorce in 2023.
Claassen struggled with homelessness and unemployment, according to her ex-husband
Image credits: James Claassen/Facebook
According to Ault, Claassen lost custody of her daughter. The child was placed with Claassen’s parents at one point, though current custody details remain unclear.
Ault also claimed Claassen had faced major struggles in recent years, including homelessness and unemployment, before entering a transitional housing program that helped her rebuild her life.
She later found work at Little Caesars and eventually began assisting adults with developmental disabilities in Kansas.
Image credits: James Claassen/Facebook
According to reports, things appeared to be stabilizing before she quit her job and stopped communicating with people close to her.
According to Ault, she traveled to North Carolina to meet someone she had met online, eventually making her way to New York.
Despite the allegations, he said he still hoped she would receive help.
“I have no ill will towards her and hope she gets the help she needs,” he said.
“Like why in the world would anyone ever want to go back to HS?” questioned one netizen
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