Ex-social worker, 32, posed as Boston high school student, police say

In English high school, she went by Ellie. At Jeremiah E. Burke High School, she introduced herself as Daniella.

But authorities have now learned that Ellie and Daniella were the aliases of Shelby Hewitt, a 32-year-old former social worker who they say posed as a high school student at three Boston public schools — where she gossiped with teens during the lunch and complained about homework.

On Tuesday, she was charged with three counts of forgery of documents, two counts of forgery and one count of identity fraud in Boston Municipal Court of the West Roxbury Division, the records show.

Ms. Hewit — who enrolled in the English, Jeremiah E. Burke and Brighton High schools under various aliases during the 2022-2023 school year by falsifying paperwork — had not been arrested on Thursday, according to Boston police, who declined to answer questions. questions about the case.

Ms. Hewitt worked intermittently as a social worker with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families from 2016 to February 2023, the department said. The department did not say why Ms. Hewitt was no longer employed. She was not immediately available for comment on Thursday and it was unclear whether she had a lawyer.

Boston Public School superintendent Mary Skipper told parents about the identity fraud case in a note on June 20, saying that Ms. Hewitt had been ordered to stay away from Boston Public School facilities.

“While the investigation is in its early stages and is still ongoing, school officials have not identified any incidents involving harm to students or staff,” Ms Skipper wrote. “At this time, families of students who may have had contact with this individual are being contacted directly by school staff and detectives.”

Ms Skipper later said in a statement that she was “deeply disturbed” by the situation, calling it an “extremely sophisticated fraud”.

The case worried parents in the district and confused students who had come to know Ms. Hewitt under different names and backgrounds. It is unclear what Ms. Hewitt’s motive may have been for infiltrating several schools.

Janell Lamons, 15, said in an interview that she met Ms. Hewitt last September at Jeremiah E. Burke High School, where the two were supposed to have lunch together in the library. Ms. Hewitt, who claimed to be 16 years old, told Janell that her name was Daniella, that she was from Colombia and that she was in foster care.

Janell said that while Ms. Hewitt seemed somewhat normal as they talked about teachers and homework, she noticed strange behavior. She said Ms. Hewitt once brought a garbage bag full of clothes to school and claimed she was going to a new foster home. Sometimes Ms. Hewitt got “very emotional” after teachers told her to focus in class and do her work, Janell said.

“She sometimes walked out of class and wandered the halls,” Janell said, adding that she occasionally saw Ms. Hewitt crying at school.

School officials took a closer look at her enrollment papers after a man posing as her father said he would withdraw her because of bullying, the police report said.

They noted that one of the enrollment forms inaccurately referred to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families as the “Department of Children and Families,” and contained other errors as well. This prompted them to call and ask for the social worker listed on the form.

The school was told by the department that no one by that name worked there, the police report states, prompting school officials to contact police.

Authorities executed a search warrant of Ms Hewitt’s apartment on June 15 and found forged documents, the police report said.

Mayor Michelle Wu further said WBUR Radio Boston that the case was “extremely troubling”.

“If someone were to tell me that an adult who was decades away from living in some of these age-appropriate environments is back in school — that would be concerning,” said Ms. Wu.

Ms. Hewitt is not the first to be charged with impersonating a teenager. In March, authorities said a 29-year-old woman pretended to be a teenager at New Brunswick High in New Jersey, in a case that caught the attention of millions online. In the early 2000s, Frédéric Bourdin serially impersonated children in youth shelters, high schools and orphanages across Europe, The New Yorker reported.

Kirsten Noyes contributed research.