Man who posed as pupil to go to school arrested and accused of forgery
A 24-year-old man has been arrested for pretending to be a 16-year-old high school student.
Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra was arrested on Monday after he posed as a teenager in January 2024 after a woman revealed he was the father of her child.
According to a police report, he had contacted Perrysburg Schools in Ohio November 2023, wanting to enroll as a student, claiming that "he had been homeless and was an immigrant from Venezuela."
He also told the school that he was a victim of human trafficking, police said.
When he met with the school to begin the enrolment process, Labrador presented a birth certificate from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with a birthdate of Dec 2, 2007, police said.
At the time, he told the school he was staying at an address in Toledo, and he started as a student on Jan. 19, 2024.
Kathy and Brad Melfred, who had housed exchange students in the past and had adoptive children, were contacted about Labrador. The Melfreds agreed to assist Labrador and he began residing with them on March 21, 2024, police said.
The couple was granted permanent guardianship over Labrador through the Wood County Common Pleas Court Juvenile Division and they also assisted him in getting a social security number and an Ohio driver's license, police said.
Then on May 14, the Melfreds were contacted by a woman, Evelyn Camacho, who stated that Labrador was "actually a 24-year-old and he was the father of her child," police said.
Camacho sent the Melfreds a picture of Labrador's driver's license with a birthdate of March 27, 2001, along with Facebook pictures of her with Labrador and a small child, police said.
Police said they reached out to the United States Border Patrol for assistance in the investigation, who advised that Labrador had an actual birthdate of March 27, 2001, an expired work visa and was considered "an overstay in this country."
Officials said his work visa expired the same year he reached out to Perrysburg Schools to enrol.
On Monday at 4.15pm., Labrador was arrested after he was located riding in a vehicle on Interstate 75 and was booked on forgery charges, police said in a statement.
Labrador was also a member of the junior varsity soccer and swim teams at the high school, and the district has reported the situation to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
The suspect remains in custody at the Wood County Jail and his next court date is scheduled for May 29, according to jail records. It is unclear if Labrador has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Labrador's case has striking similarities with the case of Brian McKinnon who was in his 30s when he managed to enrol in a Glasgow school and posed as a teenager for two years.
The notorious imposter enrolled at Bearsden Academy in 1993, giving himself a new identity as a Canadian called Brandon Lee and putting on an accent to make his story more plausible.
Brian was 30 at the time and he gained five top marks in his Highers gaining him a place as Dundee University to study medicine.
But soon after his deception was rumbled as someone told the education authorities and leaked the story to the press.
The Scot made international headlines.
"I was never trying to recreate my original schooldays," he later recalled.
"I was popular enough the first time and got very good grades but I didn't really enjoy my last two years at school.
"Work moved slowly and I had been unable to do one of the subjects I wanted to do. When I went back as Brandon Lee I wasn't trying to be popular."
As well as focusing on his studies second time around, he also took part in extra-curricular activities. He was in the football team and even had a starring role in the school production of South Pacific.
The remarkable story of how Brian deceived classmates and teachers became a documentary film called My Old School featuring Alan Cumming as Brian.
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