Man, 22, who allegedly posed as teen at Twin Cities high school calls situation a "misunderstanding"
A 22-year-old man could face multiple criminal charges after he allegedly enrolled as a student at a northern Twin Cities metro high school.
The White Bear Lake High School Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak says Kelvin Luebke enrolled as an 18-year-old. The district says he enrolled as a "homeless unaccompanied youth" and presented a birth certificate from another country.
In a statement, the superintendent said, "There was no reason to believe the official birth certificate was fraudulent. The provided birth certificate included authentic watermarking and official stamps/seals. There was no indication that the document was anything less than authentic."
Kazmierczak said Luebke attended school for 19 days and participated in three football practices, but never traveled with the team before he was reported.
Two years ago, Luebke was convicted of sending explicit images of himself to a 15-year-old girl. He was arrested last week for violating his probation from that conviction.
A search warrant states a student at the high school said they recognized Luebke from a mugshot circulating on Snapchat out of Anoka County, where he was held for unrelated charges — but the student said he had been using a different name.
Investigators say since then, several girls have come forward saying the man was messaging them. The warrant states police now have Luebke's phone and are looking to see if those messages included anything inappropriate or illegal.
Luebke has not yet been charged in connection with the investigation in White Bear Lake, but Police Chief Dale Hager said his department is pursuing possible charges related to fraud, forgery and unlawful conduct involving minors.
"It won't be a quick investigation," Hager said. "A lot of moving parts in this case."
Under federal law, schools are required to enroll eligible students immediately, even if they cannot provide academic records or proof of residency.
WCCO reporter Ashley Grams caught up with Luebke, who said this was all a misunderstanding.
ASHLEY GRAMS: Did you enroll as a student at White Bear Lake Area High School?
KELVIN LUEBKE: Um, yeah, I did.
ASHLEY GRAMS: You did?
KELVIN LUEBKE: Yeah. Can I not do this? Do I have...
ASHLEY GRAMS: Did you pretend to be a teenager?
KELVIN LUEBKE: No, I had a — my ID for my other country.
ASHLEY GRAMS: And were you — you're 22 then? Did you pretend to be 17?
KELVIN LUEBKE: In my other country, I was 18, actually, so yeah.
ASHLEY GRAMS: So you're saying it's a misunderstanding? Your age?
KELVIN LUEBKE: Yeah, it's a misunderstanding, yeah.
ASHLEY GRAMS: And do you — but you didn't pretend to be a teenager at the high school?
KELVIN LUEBKE: I had a different birth certificate on my other thing in Africa.
Forest Lake Area School District officials say Luebke was a student there from January 2022 to 2023 but did not graduate.
The family Luebke was staying with during this school year told WCCO they believed he had been at work the entire time.