Wendy Brown: Cheerleader Mom

UPDATE, July 7, 2010: Court upholds confinement for Wisconsin cheerleader mom
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UPDATE, January 13, 2009: Cheerleader mom gets 3 years in mental institution

Video.
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UPDATE, October 20, 2008: Insanity plea entered for 33-year-old who enrolled at Ashwaubenon High
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In this image released by the Brown County Sheriff's Office, Wendy Brown is shown in a booking mug after her arrest on Sept. 4, 2008, in Green Bay, Wis. Brown, 33, is charged with felony identity theft after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown's mother. (AP Photo/ Brown County Sheriff's Office)

What would possess a 33-year-old woman to steal her daughter's identity, pose as a high school student, and join the cheerleading squad?

Here's another bizarre story and it's set in Wisconsin.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A 33-year-old woman is charged with stealing her daughter's identity to attend high school and join the cheerleading team.

Wendy Brown of Green Bay faces a felony identity theft charge after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her 15-year-old daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown's mother.

"The defendant stated she wanted to get her high school degree and be a cheerleader because she had no childhood and was trying to regain a part of her life she missed," according to the complaint.

She allegedly attended cheerleading practices before school started, received a cheerleader's locker and went to a pool party at the cheerleading coach's house.

A high school employee, Kim Demeny, told authorities that Brown seemed very timid, told her she was not good in math and even cried when she talked about moving from Pahrump Valley High School in Pahrump, Nev.

Although she looked older than a student, Demeny said, she believed her demeanor was consistent with that of a high school girl.

A school liaison officer started investigating Monday after Brown showed up for only the first day of classes last week, the complaint says.

More details, from the Green Bay Press-Gazette:

Wendy Brown of Ashwaubenon appeared Friday in Brown County Circuit Court on a felony charge of identity theft after police say she used her daughter's documentation to become a student at the school. Officials said the woman stopped attending school after the first day, prompting a truancy investigation that led to the discovery of the woman's true identity.

According to court documents, Brown enrolled using her daughter's official transcript, Social Security card, birth certificate and other personal identification.

In the criminal complaint, school officials and teachers said the student appeared older but had a teenage-like demeanor. Brown had told teachers and some school officials that she and her mother had to leave Nevada to get away from her father.

"In school you see a lot of children who look older and dress older," said Don Penza, liaison officer.

"At what point do you say, 'You're lying.'"

She attended cheerleading practices and a party at the cheerleading coach's house. She was given a cheerleader locker and paid for her uniform with a check that later bounced.

Brown listed herself as the parent and an employee at a day care but did not provide a phone number on school forms. During the investigation, officials were unable to contact Brown and contacted the Nevada school listed on the transcript she provided, according to police.

School officials there said Brown's daughter was currently attending school. The girl's grandmother, who is her legal guardian, confirmed that and alerted officials to Brown's history of fraud and identity theft.

School and law enforcement officials later discovered Brown was arrested by Green Bay Police on Sept. 3 and booked into the Brown County Jail on an unrelated misdemeanor charge. Brown admitted to the false identity and said her daughter was unaware of the scheme.

...The woman told officers she wanted to get her high school diploma and become a cheerleader because she had no childhood.

Crocker said he's not buying the story because of her lengthy history of fraud.

Brown County Assistant District Attorney Beau Liegeois said Brown has a 2007 conviction for deceptive practices, a 2004 conviction for obstructing an officer and a 2002 burglary conviction. She was sentenced to five years in prison for the oldest two cases. All of her previous convictions were from Illinois, Liegeois said.

...Brown is being held, with bail at $9,500 on three criminal complaints.

Brown is a convicted criminal.

But this latest in her line of illegal activities is really just sad.

Impersonating your daughter and pretending to be a high school student when you're 33 years old is pathetic.

It's amazing that she was able to convince people she was just a kid.

Brown had her daughter when she was eighteen. She claims that she didn't have a childhood. She grew up too fast.

It seems to me that she didn't grow up at all.

______________ "How Did a 33-Year-Old Enroll Herself in High School?"