What we know – NBC Boston

Shelby Hewitt, the 32-year-old woman accused of impersonating a Boston Public Schools student, is scheduled to appear in court for a lobbying conference on Wednesday.

Court documents show that between 2021 and 2023, Hewitt posed as a 13-year-old student while working as a social worker for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.

Here is a closer look at the chronology of events:

6 Dec 2021-3 Feb 2023

Hewitt allegedly carried out an elaborate scheme to enroll in multiple high schools. She convinced the Boston public school system and the state that she was a 13-year-old child while working for the Department of Children and Families. During that time, Hewitt allegedly purchased the domain name @masstate.us and used it to create two fake DCF employees with fake email addresses and phone numbers. She then used a pseudonym and the real identity of a child in state care to enroll in the Walden Behavioral Treatment Center for an eating disorder and in three different Boston public schools where she received special education classes. All while receiving her $54,000 salary from the state.

June 8, 2023

Hewitt enrolls at English High School in Jamaica Plain under the name Ellie Alessandra Blake.

Sometime between 8 and 14 June 2023

A man claiming to be Hewitt's father reported that his daughter (Hewitt) was being bullied at school and he wanted to pull her out of school. This seemed odd to the school since the student had only been enrolled on June 8. Concerned about a possible custody issue with her parents, school officials contacted the district to obtain her records.

14 June 2023

The principal of English High School called 911 after administrators reviewed the student's records and found some troubling discrepancies, including incorrect information on a Department of Children and Families form that had “Department of Children and Families” on the letterhead. They called the social worker listed on the document, but the worker did not exist. Boston police began a criminal investigation.

June 15, 2023

State and local police anti-trafficking teams searched a Jamaica Plain apartment where she lived with two other people. The search turned up documents from her bedroom that had been submitted to juvenile court and the Department of Children and Families and were allegedly used to enroll Hewitt in Boston public schools as two different people.

Around 21 June 2023

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper sent a letter to parents informing them. She said the woman had been “dismissed and ordered to stay away from Boston Public Schools (BPS) facilities.”

26 June 2023

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called the incident “extremely disturbing” in an interview with WBUR's “Radio Boston.” She said there was no evidence that any students were harmed.

27 June 2023

An arrest warrant is filed against Hewitt in West Roxbury District Court, containing four counts of forgery, two counts of making false statements, and one count of identity fraud.

July 17, 2023

Shelby Hewitt now faces several charges, including identity fraud and forgery.

Hewitt appeared in court – her first court appearance for the alleged fraud – where her lawyer said she has a history of mental illness. Hewitt was held on $5,000 bail, which she paid herself. A judge imposed conditions on her, including that she stay away from all schools, have no contact with Boston Public Schools employees and have no contact with children who are not immediate family members. Her lawyer, Timothy Flaherty, explained that Hewitt had been in residential treatment before turning herself in.

15 November 2023

Hewitt was charged with forgery, common law forgery, uttering a false statement, theft over $1,200, identity theft and making false statements to employer.

Shelby Hewitt appeared in Boston Municipal Court in West Roxbury on Monday, July 17, 2023, for allegedly using false names to gain admission to three Boston high schools.

December 12, 2023

Hewitt was arraigned at Suffolk High Court and pleaded not guilty to nine charges, with new details emerging regarding alleged claims that she was a traumatised child with significant special educational and emotional needs.

Shelby Hewitt is accused of conducting an elaborate plot to convince the Boston public school system and the state that she had been working for the Department of Children and Families since she was 13. Parents – and Hewitt's lawyer – want to know what went wrong with the school system that allowed her to get away with it for so long.