LONGVIEW, United States — Police arrested Charity Ann Johnson, 34, in Longview, Texas on Tuesday, May 13, 2014.
They said she had posed as a 15-year-old student at a private high school for more than six months.
Johnson was taken into custody after officers were called to the home of Tamica Lincoln, a woman who had taken her in and acted as her guardian.
Police said Johnson identified herself as Charity Stevens, the name she had used at school.
She was booked on a charge described as failure to identify and giving false or fictitious information.
Although an initial jail record listed Johnson as 31, Longview police later confirmed that she was 34.
Officials at New Life Christian School said Johnson had enrolled as a sophomore in October 2013.
She claimed to have been home-schooled and provided no previous academic transcripts. The birth date on her application indicated that she was 15.
Questions about Johnson’s identity emerged after Lincoln heard from the leader of an organisation assisting children that Johnson had sought its help.
Lincoln then contacted a manager at the McDonald’s where the two women had worked. Employment records listed Johnson’s surname and showed that she was born in 1979, Lincoln said.
Lincoln said Johnson had told her that she had been abused by her biological father and that both of her parents were dead. She also said she had nowhere to live.
Believing Johnson was a vulnerable teenager, Lincoln allowed her to move into her home, bought clothes for her, did her hair, and attended meetings with her teachers.
“She acted like a kid. She did her homework. She got good report cards,” Lincoln told ABC News.
Lincoln and Ray Ward, who had acted as a mentor to Johnson, notified the police and informed the school of their suspicions.
“Teachers were crying and students were crying, and her best friend just couldn’t believe it,” Lincoln said.
Johnson was held at the Gregg County Jail on a $500 bond.
