Grown Woman Pretended to be 'Traumatized' High School Teen

The 30-some yearear-old social worker. who pretended to be a high school. student for months has finally learned. her fate. It's been years since. investigators discovered that Shelby. Huitt was using different identities to. enroll in at least three different. public schools in the Boston area. [music]. But now she is owning up to her actions. in court, but the fallout may not be. over yet. Welcome to Sidebar, presented. by Law and Crime. I'm [music] Jesse. Weber. By the way, there's something that we. use here at Long Crime that I think. could be really useful to you. It's.

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records with Truthfinder now at. truthfinder.com/lc. sidebar. During the 2022 2023 school. year, a new student enrolled in Jeremiah. E. Burke High School, now called Albert. D. Holland High School in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The student said she was. 16-year-old foster child Danielle. Herrera. And I'll tell you what, it. would be months before administrators. uncovered the very unsettling truth that. she was actually Shelby Huitt, a social.

worker who was in her 30s by this time. So, as an investigation into Huitt's. actions and how she pulled it off, got. underway. Officials learned that Huitt. had actually used multiple assumed. identities to enroll in at least three. different high schools between September. 2022 and June of 2023. She used fake. documents to further this ruse that she. was a child in Massachusetts foster care. system. According to police, Huitt. enrolled as a 16-year-old student at. Burke High School in the fall of 2022, where she actually, by the way, joined.

the girls basketball team. And get this, she chose the number 32 for her jersey. because that was her real age. Then she. requested a transfer to Brighton High. School. And in June of 2023, police say. she enrolled under a different name at. English High School in Jamaica Plane. This time, by the way, posing as a. 13-year-old. Interesting. You get older. yet pose as a younger person. Very. interesting to think about that. But. according to reporting from NBC 10. Boston, a man claiming to be Huitt's dad.

went to English High School and said he. was pulling her out because of bullying, but she had just enrolled a week before. and the school was working on addressing. the bullying situation. So things kind. of felt a little pinky, right? And then. when administrators called the school. district to verify some paperwork, that's when they found some errors. So. they tried to contact the social worker. that was listed on her enrollment form. for clarification about what was going. on here. Turns out that person didn't. exist. Police were their next call, as. you can imagine. Now, students at the. school reportedly started to notice that. something was off, too. Sometimes.

Huitt's stories didn't line up. correctly. But really, they chocked that. up to her, you know, maybe having a. tough upbringing, maybe was reserved, maybe confused, as she had made claims. that she was abused and that she was. trafficked. But this is the important. point. This is according to the Boston. Globe. Some students found Huitt's. actual yearbook photo from when she went. to Sharon High School all the way back. in 2007. That was the giveaway. Now, no. word, by the way, on if the man. allegedly pretending to be Huitt's dad. was ever found or charged, but what we.

do know is that Hwitt was charged, faced. nine counts connected to identity fraud. and document forgery. An arrest warrant. was issued in June of 2023. She turned. herself in. She was released on a $5,000. bond, according to NBC 10. There were. strict conditions put in place that she. couldn't go near any schools or contact. the people there. Mass Live spoke with a. woman who attended Burke High School at. the same time as Hwitt. Actually. befriended her. She told the outlet, quote, "It just makes me hard to trust. people. It makes me question, is this. person or is this just like another. Shelby?" Moving forward, I think a lot.

of students are going to continue to. feel betrayal. Even though it happened 3. years ago, they would never forget how. that made them feel at that time. That's. the important part. What's the harm. here, right? We'll talk about that. So. reportedly Huitt became friends with. students ages 13 through 16. Again, this. is a woman in her 30s. And get this, at. the same time that she was pretending to. be a high schooler, ostensibly going to. classes, playing sports, making friends, she was also employed by the Department. of Children and Families as a social. worker herself, collecting her $54,000 a.

year salary, again while posing as a. teenager. She also reportedly created. fake identities for DCF workers to help. with the enrollment process. And it. wasn't just at school that Huitt was. reportedly pretending to be a teen. She. also apparently used her DCF resources. to enroll in Walden Behavioral Care. This is an eating disorder clinic in DA, Massachusetts where she once again. claimed to be this Daniela Herrera. We're going to talk more about Walden. Behavioral and what employees there. might have known about Huitt. We'll get. to that in just a minute. Now, let's.

talk about what just happened. Okay. After several delays, Huitt was supposed. to go to trial in Suffach County. Superior Court next week, but instead. the court announced that a plea. agreement had been reached. >> Uh my understanding is that there is an. agreed upon disposition in this case for. a plea of guilty. I have had the. opportunity already to review your um uh. board of probation record. I'm fully. familiar with this case, as you know, and I've already had the opportunity to.

look at the guidelines here. So, what. we're going to do is we're going to move. forward with that process. Okay. >> So, Huitt pleaded guilty on February 3rd. to identity fraud, violating the. standards of conduct for a public. employee, and three counts of forgery of. a document. The four other charges were. dismissed. And Huitt's attorney had. previously told the court that his. client had long-term mental health. problems that she had started receiving. treatment for. That should be a factor. to consider here. Huert herself. addressed some of those issues during a. statement on Tuesday. Take a look.

Thank you, your honor, for letting me. speak. I'm truly sorry for the harm that. I know that I have caused, and I. recognize that my conduct disrupted the. Boston public schools and caused. confusion, alarm, and probably fear to. students, families, and staff. I should never have been there. And. through my actions, I violated the trust.

of the school community, my family, and. everybody in my life that loved me. And. I am deeply sorry for the pain that I. caused. And I carry a lot of shame every. day regarding it. And so I am. I was not being a good person. Um, and I am continuing intensive mental. health treatment, medication, and. counseling to try to be a better one. And, um, I know that that doesn't undo.

the harm that I know that I caused, but. I accept full responsibility and I hope. that anyone I I hurt can heal from it. And I I'm very truly sorry for my. incredibly selfish decisions. >> I'm not waving any fees. Miss, the court having accepted your. guilty plea on indictment number 2384. CR555. on offenses 1 2 3 7 and 9. Consideration.

of your guilty plea. The court does. place you on probation for a period of 4. years. Those probationary periods will. run concurrent with each other at the. same time as one another. So Huitt was. ordered to serve four years of probation. for each guilty plea, which is going to. be served concurrently. So at the same. time, if the sentences had been. consecutive, by the way, she would have. faced, you know, 20 years of. supervision. She also had to pay more. than $9,000 in restitution. And as part.

of her probation, she has to continue. getting therapy, take any medication. that she's prescribed. She has to stay. away from all Boston public schools. She. can't work as a social worker. She can't. seek social worker license. I think all. this makes sense. But here's the thing. That's not the end of the story. There. are still a lot of questions surrounding. how this could have happened, especially. when you learn that Huitt had at one. point moved in with her longtime. therapist. Yeah, this is a person who. allegedly sat alongside her as she. unrolled. According to the Boston Globe,

Rebecca Bernat, also sometimes called. Becky, a licensed clinical social. worker, former supervisor at Walden. Behavioral Care, which I mentioned. before, could face disciplinary action. Bernett expressed shock when the. allegations against Huitt came out. though, but many have since questioned, you know, how much did she actually know. about what was going on? How much did. she actually know about Huitt's true. background? So, prosecutors alleged that. Huitt told Bernat and other Walden. employees that, look, she was so. traumatized from being trafficked as a. child, she couldn't remember her real.

age. But the Globe reports that Huitt. had actually been enrolled at Walden. Behavioral Care before using her true. identity. and anonymous employees and. former patients claim there's no way. that Bernat wouldn't remember her. So, how could she have been fooled, right? And why did she let Huitt move in with. her? That's a good point, too. That's at. some point Huitt apparently posing as a. foster child moved in with Bernat and. her partner, a man named John Smith. That's already pretty fishy, by the way, and it's considered by many to be a.

pretty big ethical violation for a. patient and therapist to live together. But there's no way Bernett couldn't have. at least had some suspicions that. something was going on, right? I don't. know. Maybe. You know, Bernett's lawyer, Connie Tran, told the Globe after. Huitt's arrest that quote, "Hwitt. utilized various fabricated personas to. deceive Walden, BPS, and Rebecca into. believing she was in fact a child who. was legally in DCF's custody." Tran also. claimed Rebecca did not facilitate. Shelby Huitt's enrollment into BPS. Rather, Huitt undertook this action.

independently. But school. administrators, they've pushed back, insisting that that just doesn't track. Reporter uh Patricia Wen wrote in a 2024. Boston Globe article, they say Bernat. was present either on Zoom or in person. to complete enrollment paperwork in. August of 2022 for 16-year-old Daniela. Herrera and then in June of 2023 for. 13-year-old Ellie Blake. Officials say. Bernat's use of a second name in the. school system, Ellie, raises questions. about how certain she was about the. truth of the first one, Dianiela. According to the Globe, at least six.

complaints have been filed against. Bernat with the state social worker. board since Huitt's arrest. So, they're. looking into whether she could face any. sort of punishment. She apparently no. longer works for Walden Behavioral, but. the Globe reports that people they. contacted at the clinic wouldn't even. confirm if she'd been fired. Now, her. attorney, when it comes to her licensing. as a social worker, Paul Sirill, told. the Boston Globe this week that hearings. on her case are expected to begin this. summer. All right, I want to talk more. about this and I want to bring in former. criminal prosecutor Dan Shore who also.

works very closely with schools and. other educational institutions when it. comes to potential crimes uh on campus. He's the perfect guest for this. Um Dan, have you ever seen anything like this. before? Somebody impersonating this. level and by the way able to pull it off. for quite some time. >> Yeah, it is really strange. I haven't. seen a case like this except like back. in the 80s with Johnny Depp on TV, you. know, where someone like poses as. >> Yeah. >> Right. posing as a high school student.

You know, so many of the cases that we. talk about, there's someone who's a. victim and there's a lot of, you know, concern about that here. It's kind of. strange because you don't have a. specific person who's victimized. Obviously, taxpayers and resources. And. the the question that I would ask is. what was the motive for doing this? Was. it to take advantage of something? Or. was it to have a larger scam? Or was it. just someone with some mental health. issues who for some reason thought this. was a good idea? Because it doesn't seem. like anyone's being specifically harmed.

in a way that's concerning. >> Let me let me push back on that. So, she. was receiving a salary uh while she was. pretending to be a student. Uh number. two, I do wonder what the harm is to the. students, the people that she. befriended, the people that were. invested in her life, the people that uh. she communicated with. They may have. trust issues moving forward. I feel like. this has to present some sort of. psychological damage. >> It's possible and definitely fraud is. really important. I'm also a former. inspector general and yoners and I. investigated fraud of financial, you.

know, resources of a city. So, I do take. that very seriously, but I guess I see. it compared to some of the other cases. we talk about where you're dealing with. intimate partner violence and sex abuse. and things like that where really they. live with lifelong trauma, the people. who experience that. But obviously you. want only the people who should be in a. school to be in that school. I haven't. seen something like this where someone. has pretended to attend the school or. pretended to be eligible to attend the. school and get those benefits with and. as you said she's also working for the.

city the government. So she's not. obviously not doing her job if she's at. school. >> Well also I'll say look yeah brought up. on fraud and forgery charges obviously. but there is something deeply unsettling. and um I will also say a safety risk. Imagine for a moment that you're not. dealing with her, but somebody else. who's posing as a child and they're 30. years old, an adult, hanging out with. children. You know where that can go, >> right? I mean, we certainly can't allow. this to happen. And I think a lot of. times criminal prosecutions aren't just.

about punishing that specific def um. defendant, but it's about deterrence and. making sure that there's a message sent. that if you do this, you are going to be. facing criminal charges. Doesn't look. like she's going to be incarcerated, but. certainly she was facing that. and she. will have this hanging over her head. This is going to affect her life, her. career. It's also public. So, whatever. job she tries to get next, that's going. to undermine that. And hopefully that'll. deter other people from doing this. It's. certainly unusual for someone to be. interested in attending school. I know. when I was in high school, I couldn't. wait to get out. So, it's interesting to.

see someone trying to get in years. later. And you wonder why. There's. obviously some mental health issues. going on there. >> Four years enough, four years probation. enough, no jail time, >> I think. So, this isn't someone who. appears to be a violent threat to the. community and there's no reason to have. her incarcerated. I don't think she's a. danger from what we've seen. As I was. just saying, it is important to send a. message only not only to her but also to. the community that you can't do this. You are going to be prosecuted. If she. doesn't have a criminal record, which as.

far as I can tell she doesn't, then I. don't think you need to incarcerate. someone like this for a non-violent. crime. But it's still a serious. conviction that's going to be with her. for the rest of her life. >> She's also been ordered, as I mentioned, to stay away from schools. The question, of course, will be, how often is she. actually checked upon? How do they. enforce that? >> Right. Well, if she's on some kind of. probation, there should be some. supervision. So, it's not as if she's. going to be monitored 247. And if someone but if someone reports.

that they see her in a school near a. school then she could face jail time. just from the violation. >> Do you know what tools probation. officers have to track somebody? >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean some some of them use. GPS tracking where people have actual. either a bracelet or something else. where their location is always known and. if they and the technology is incredible. now where you can see okay the person's. near a school they're near some other. place that's prohibited or they're. getting close and we're going to contact. them to let them know. So the technology.

is definitely out there. It's a matter. of whether the oversight feels that. that's necessary or is it just something. that's a cautionary instruction to her. and if she's caught she's going to face. enhanced punishment such as. incarceration. Do you do you see I mean in cases if. you've ever seen this before do you see. reaffending. >> it would you know if she reaffended it. would be hard to see her doing the same. type of thing because now that her name. is public when and when if she's trying. to enroll in another school for example. you would think that the name would come.

up in a basic search online of that. she's tried to do this before when. you're just looking at someone just. record when they're being enrolled. Also. the older she gets it's going to be. harder and harder for anyone to pose as. a high school student and get away with. it. So, I think this specific act is. probably not going to be something where. someone would reaffend, but just the. general nature of fraud and someone. trying to game the system to get a. benefit and take advantage of taxpayer. funds and resources. That's something. that is a danger that you could see. someone reoffending in the future in a. different way. >> Why do you think somebody would do this?

>> That's the big question. And I know her. lawyer was saying that she has some. mental health issues. And I'm sure. there's a larger story to this that we. don't know about why she wanted to go. back to high school. Maybe there's. something that she felt she was missing. in her life that she would get from. doing that. Maybe she wanted to be with. younger people for some reason. We. don't, as you alluded to before, someone. might do this for a real nefarious. purpose cuz they're going to do. something that's harmful to other high. school age students. Or is it someone. who just wanted to be back in that time. of their lives because later on their.

life wasn't going the way they wanted. to. So, someone pining away for high. school glory days. We just don't know. But clearly someone who does this has. some kind of mental health issues. not. mentally well adjusted if they're. enrolling in schools because they're. going to get caught at some point. Someone I don't think this is something. you could just get away with and you're. going to just graduate from the high. school at that age and no one's going to. ever realize that you're older. >> Yeah, there's always a lot of. complicated factors whether it is to. live the glory days, whether something. happened in your childhood, you didn't.

really feel like you had a childhood and. you go back, I'm not trying to justify. it, but I've seen cases like that. before. Um, I want to go back to. something that I mentioned how she was. able to do this. I mean, how was she. able to exploit the loopholes in the. system to become a student? The. superintendent for Boston public schools. called this quote, a case of extremely. sophisticated fraud. A, how do you think. she did it? B, look, do you think she. had help? I mentioned before this her.

alleged fake dad who came to one of the. schools. Is this something that she. could do on her own? How was she able to. do? You think she had help? It seems like something you would need. some kind of help for because you have. to provide some kind of identification. and maybe she was able to create fake. identification on her own. Getting. someone else to oppose as a fake dad is. also obviously another ri part of this. that's interesting. So how sophisticated. is she in terms of understanding what. the schools are going to require and how. she can manipulate her information to.

satisfy what the school is asking for. and we don't know how laxed the school. system was in terms of monitoring who's. enrolling and who's not. That's another. thing. There's a lot of students in a. school system like this. Sometimes. they're overwhelmed. A lot of school. systems are short staffed. There's. budget cuts in a lot of places recently. and maybe that was a contributor to it. But I I would think she's either. sophisticated in terms of how she. creates fake identification and other. things that can mislead the school or. she might have gotten some help. And. also if she got some help, we don't know.

if the person who helped her knew what. they were helping her with. But. certainly it's it's a problematic issue. that needs to be looked into more. >> Did you see about Rebecca Bernat, right? This licensed clinical social worker, this former supervisor at Walden. Behavioral Care, the person she. apparently moved in with. There's been a. lot of questions about did she help. facilitate uh her enrollment? Her legal. team says no, that she didn't in any. way. She was deceived. Um, but a lot of.

questions surround her and like how is. it possible she wouldn't know what was. going on? How is it possible, you know, she didn't know that this she wasn't a. child, she wasn't a child. What are your. thoughts on uh Bernett's legal. consequences? >> Well, I would assume that law. enforcement looked into that. That. doesn't mean that they found the answer, but I would imagine that whenever. there's a prosecution like this, I know. when I was a prosecutor or an inspector. general investigating fraud or. misconduct, I would want to look into. who else knew that this person was. possibly doing the misconduct and what.

was their role. So, I'm sure that was. looked into. Also, there was a plea deal. here with the defendant. So, you would. think that part of the negotiations. would be trying to ascertain from her if. she's willing to say that someone else. was involved. No, some people are. willing to do that. Some people are not. But I would assume this is explored. If. it was just oral communication though. between them about what was happening. and the this defendant doesn't want to. reveal that, it's really hard to find. proof that law enforcement could go. forward with. >> What about the fact that uh as I.

mentioned before, aside from this, she's. fa facing multiple complaints. Um her. attorney indicated to the Boston Globe. that hearings on her case are expected. to begin this summer. I'm talking about. Bernat. um when it comes to her. licensing as a social worker, what can. we expect there? What kind of. disciplinary action could we expect with. respect uh with respect to burnout? >> I'm sure this is going going to come up. and she because part of her role is to. be knowledgeable about the people she's. working with. So whether or not there's. something that hurts her license or gets.

her in trouble in some other way. ultimately we just can't tell at this. point. But I'm sure that's an issue. that's going to be a focus of the review. because it is a concern to when you're. licensing someone or someone's in a. position of authority through their spec. specific expertise. You want to know are. they doing the right thing not only by. the person they're helping but also by. society. >> Typically in these proceedings would she. testify? Would Bernett go on and say hey. or provide some sort of statement about. what happened here? >> She might be asked to. I don't know all. the ins and outs of those those types of.

proceedings and whether you have to. answer all questions or you can decline. to answer questions. But again, I think. it would be hard to prove knowledge here. unless there's some kind of. communication, a text message or this. defendant who just pled is in this plea. talking about how she was assisted. So. other than that, someone could just keep. denying like you were talking about. before and say, "I didn't know anything. about this." It's really hard to prove. otherwise unless you have some kind of. evidence. >> All right, Dan Shore, let's uh let's.

meet again maybe under different. circumstances. Uh this is a strange one, an odd one. Like you said, not doesn't. have the same kind of uh you know. consequences or effect or harm as other. cases, but it is disturbing to say the. least, particularly if you're thinking. about somebody who was able to exploit. again loopholes in the system. But Dan. Shore, thank you for taking the time. Appreciate it. >> Jesse, always great to talk with you. Thank you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always,

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