Mom arrested for using fake ID to register school children

By Jacob Bielanski

A St. Rose mother and her boyfriend were arrested after authorities say they used a fake ID when registering two girls for St. Rose Elementary School.

An employee of St. Charles Parish Public Schools called the police after Natividad Alvarez, 29, and Pedro Raygoza, 34, used an altered ID submitted as part of the registration for Alvarez’s daughters.

The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office later determined that the ID was fake and charged the couple with injuring public records and false swearing.

Raygoza believes he and Alvarez were arrested because school officials did not think his girlfriend and her two daughters lived with Raygoza in St. Rose. Raygoza said he and Alvarez have been dating for approximately three years, and have lived together for a year, but the two are not married.

Alvarez’s two children, born in the U.S., had been living with their father in Mexico. According to Raygoza, the couple recently discovered that money sent to the father was not being used for the children’s support. In June, they moved the girls into the home in St. Rose that Raygoza and Alvarez now share.

“You can see they live here,” Raygoza said as he pointed to the girls’ room.

The room was complete with clothes hanging in the closet, homemade artwork on the walls and a small bed with brightly-colored sheets. On a Tuesday morning, the girls were busy rushing around, their mother feverishly preparing them to wait for the bus in the crisp, October air.

“We’re trying to do this right,” Raygoza said.

The girls will not face expulsion as a result of the charges, school spokeswoman Stevie Crovetto said via email. She said the ID was fake, not the address.

Temporary residents—those who are living with a resident of St. Charles Parish but do not have a lease agreement of their own, such as in the case of Alvarez—are required to file a special, notarized form accompanied by a series of documents, including a valid Louisiana state ID.

Raygoza and Alvarez are accused of using an altered Louisiana ID. Both Raygoza and Alvarez face a maximum punishment of up to five years in prison and fines up to $7,500 dollars each if convicted.Both are scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 18.