"Baby face" isn’t usually a term that strikes fear into the heart of anyone. But the young-looking adults on this list of people who pretended to be teens are some of the scariest monsters you’ll ever read about. A few of the imposters played their sick games online, but most of them went incognito as teens right under the noses of other adults. The stories collected here are a chilling selection of tragedies that sadly play out again and again across the Western world. Take a look at these adults who could pass as a teen and what they did with their unsettlingly young looks.
Those of us who lived through the burgeoning days of Myspace remember how easy it was to make friends that you never met in person. You might still be friends with some of those people. Whether or not you realize it, the trust needed to make a friend that easily is something that pedophiles and conmen take advantage of every day. Most adults have their guard up against things like that, but teenagers haven’t been around long enough to think that someone would actually pretend to be their age just to be their friend. The stories on this list range from sad tales of people that never felt loved to truly despicable human beings who will do anything it takes to get what they want.
If you weren’t suspicious already, then this list of adults who pretended to be kids is going to make you want to perform a background check on everyone you meet. Read all about these creepy adults who pretended to be teens and stop making friends online.
16 Creepy Cases of Adults Who Pretended to be Teens,
Woman Pretends to Be Her Daughter Online
One of the strangest stories of an adult pretending to be a teen online comes from 2006 when 45-year-old Mary Shieler posed as her teenage daughter, "Jessi," in order to create a love triangle between herself, a guy who was pretending to be a Marine sniper, and his younger co-worker Brian. After "Jessi" broke up with the faux sniper to "date" Brian, the fake sniper killed Brian and discovered that "Jessi" was really Mary.
Convicted Sex Offender Enrolls in High School
In 2007, a convicted sex offender named Neil Havens Rodreick II tried to enroll in two different Arizona schools posing as a 12-year-old. Unbeknownst to Rodreick, authorities were already suspicious, believing him to be an abducted child. After he was arrested, it came out that Rodreick had convinced two older men that he was 12 years old, shaved his body hair, and wore makeup to appear more boyish.
Adding to the layers of weirdness in this story, the two men that Rodreick lived with believed that he was under 13 and were having sex with him. When it was revealed that he was 29, the men "were very upset."
30-Year-Old Conman Tricks Family Into Thinking He's Their Son
If you've seen The Imposter, then you know this story. In 1994, Nicholas Barclay, a 13-year-old from Texas, disappeared, and three years later he showed back up looking much worse for wear and claiming that he'd been sexually abused. It turned out that the returned Nicholas was actually Frederic Bourdin, a 23-year-old impostor. And that wasn't even the last time he pretended to be a child. In 2005, he pretended to be a 15-year-old orphan and attended the College Jean Monnet in Pau, France. He was later sentenced to a whopping four months in prison.
When asked to give a reason as to why he constantly pretended to be children, he answered that he was looking for "love and affection."
Adult Pretends to Be Teen to Pick Up Chicks in 'Social Experiment'
Under the auspices of teaching teens a lesson (or whatever), human bottle of LA Looks gel Coby Persin pretended to be a teenage boy who catfished young women (with the help of their parents) to show everyone just how gullible kids really are. Even if social experiments weren't totally lame, this video is extra bad because it operates as a how-to for any goon who can't figure out how to make a fake Facebook profile. Boo to you, Coby Persin.
Lifelong Conwoman Really Thinks She's a Teen
Throughout her twenties, Treva Throneberry pretended to be a teenager and conned numerous people into thinking that she was a victim of Satanic ritual abuse. After disappearing from her hometown in 1985, Throneberry hitchhiked around the country convincing people that she was had been sexually abused, and in 2000, when she was 31 years old, Throneberry graduated from a high school in Vancouver, WA. After she was finally caught, a psychologist evaluated Throneberry (she was using the alias Brianna Stewart) and claimed that she was "profoundly disturbed."
Fake Teen Kidnaps Real Teen
In 2015, Russell Wayne Deviney, a 48-year-old man from Washington, pretended to be an 18-year-old on the Internet in order to groom a 15-year-old girl that he met online. After gaining the girl's trust, he suggested that they go on a one-day trip together, and kidnapped her from her home in California and raped her at a rest stop. He was caught when the girl told eaters in an Astoria, OR McDonald's that she'd been kidnapped.
Woman Pretends to Be Teen to Pick Up 13-Year-Old Girl
In Franklin, OH, 32-year-old Patricia Dye was arrested for claiming to be a teenage boy in order to have sex with a 16-year-old girl in 2011. Similar allegations arose concerning other young girls that Dye ay have abused, but no one came forward to press charges. Dye was indicted by a criminal grand jury and convicted of misdemeanor charges of sexual imposition, attempted sexual imposition, and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child, all stemming from the single victim.
23-Year-Old Woman Pretends to Be a Teen for Sex
In 2014, Anna Areola-Hernandez pretended to be a 15-year-old girl online in order to meet teenage boys. Why anyone would want to have sex with a teenager is beyond us, but she went for the gold. Hernandez even went so far as to get pregnant by one of the boys and give him a sexually transmitted disease. According to the police, Hernandez "admitted to preferring younger boys rather than men her own age but did not explain why."
Ukranian Man Goes Back to High School, Gets a 4.16 GPA
Mel Brooks once said, "When you got it, flaunt it." And that's exactly what Artur Samarin, a 23-year-old Ukrainian man, did in 2016 when he lost his American visa and decided to go back to high school in order to stay in the country. Prior to being caught, he achieved a 4.16 GPA and was even a member of the National Honor Society.
34-Year-Old Enrolls as a Sophomore in High School
In 2013, Charity Johnson enrolled at New Life Christian School in Longview, Texas a few months shy of her 34th birthday. Charity spent nearly a decade bouncing around make-shift foster homes in small Texas towns, taking advantage of her host's hospitality until they found out her true identity. It's entirely possible that Charity would have stayed in Longview had she not been arrested by police for failing to identify herself to a police officer. When Charity was asked about why she lied about her age, all she said was: "I guess you can say I was looking for love.”