A Texas mother who filmed herself posing as her 13-year-old daughter to sneak into her middle school and attend classes for a day, claims she was did the stunt to prove that security was poor.
Casey Garcia, 30, was arrested Friday for criminal trespassing, tampering with government records and an unrelated traffic violation, according to El Paso County Jail records, after a video of her sneaking into her daughter's middle school went viral.
In the video, Garcia can be seen walking into the building, which was later identified as the Garcia-Enriquez Middle School.
Casey Garcia pictured LEFT: As a '13-year-old' high schooler, and RIGHT: As herself, a 30-year-old mom
Garcia (right) posed as her 13-year-old daughter Julie (left) and claims no-one noticed until the final period
'Do I look like a seventh grader?' she asks before stepping inside. 'No? Cool, awesome.'
Garcia then appears to say hello to what she says was the principal of the building, and proceeds to walk around the school without teachers noticing. One can even be heard giving her instructions to find a classroom.
In second period, Garcia shows the camera a math assignment, and the teacher can be heard calling her by her daughter's name, 'Julie.'
She can then be seen attending physical education class.
Garcia, 30, is pictured in her mugshot after she was arrested and charged criminal trespassing
By lunch time she takes off her mask to eat.
'I've been here all day, face to face with teachers,' she said in disbelief.
It wasn't until the final period of the day, she said, that a teacher noticed that Garcia was not who she said she was and confronted her.
In a follow-up video the mother explains why she did it.
'We need better security at our schools, this is what I tried to prove, and I don't mean to be curt but I kind of feel like I proved it,' she said.
It was a social experiment Garcia said as she described wearing fake tanner, and dying her hair a darker color to better resemble her daughter's, and she said she memorized her daughter's ID number to gain access to the building.
'I think the deal breaker for me was actually walking in and posing as a seventh grader.' she said. 'I mean I'm no spring chicken, but it wasn't hard and I made it to all seven periods.'
In particular, Garcia says she was surprised by the lack of attention teachers were paying to the students.
Garcia filmed her walking around the building throughout the day, narrating her disbelief that nobody noticed that she was not who she said she was
Garcia even took her mask off to eat during lunch. It wasn't until the final class of the day that a teacher noticed that she was not her daughter and confronted her
Garcia says she was surprised by the lack of attention teachers were paying to the students
School officials confirmed that the incident took place at the Garcia-Enriquez Middle School. San Elizario Schools Superintendent Jeannie Meza-Chavez acknowledged that there had been a breach in security
'The teachers were so preoccupied about the students who were online that they weren't paying attention to the students who were there physically,' Garcia said.
Many, she said, were simply concerned that she had her phone out.
'It was "hey, put your phone away." I was not a name, I was not a person,' she said. 'I was "hey put your phone away."'
In response to both her initial video and follow-up which garnered more than 126,000 and more than 105,000 views on YouTube respectively, many appeared to agree with the mother.
'I remember been in high school and seen people that graduated last year walking around in the hallways that have no reason been there,' wrote Flor Pardo. 'Our schools do need more security.'
'I find it sad they didn’t notice, because they didn’t really interact with you,' commented Aaron Sexton.
And after she was released from jail on a $7,808 bond, Garcia responded, telling the network, 'I spent the day in police custody, but my question still remains: Are our children safe in our schools, Jeannie Meza-Chavez?'
'You can hear in your voice and mannerisms you’re not a child they just don’t care! Something needs fixed,' wrote Danay White. 'Thank you for doing this!'
The El Paso County Sheriff's office said school officials first notified of the incident June 1.
San Elizario Schools Superintendent Jeannie Meza-Chavez acknowledged what happened.
'While there was a breach in security by an individual associated as a parent with the school…we want to assure you that our security measures are being reviewed and evaluated,' she told KTSM.
And after she was released from jail on a $7,808 bond, Garcia responded, telling the network, 'I spent the day in police custody, but my question still remains: Are our children safe in our schools, Jeannie Meza-Chavez?'
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