Teen granted restraining order against man, 22, accused of fraudulently attending White Bear Lake HS

A harassment restraining order on behalf of a 17-year-old girl was served Friday to a 22-year-old man who is accused of fraudently enrolling into White Bear Lake High School as a student-athlete.

The development comes one day after White Bear Lake Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak explained in a second message to district families how the man was able to bypass protocols and briefly attend classes and join the football team despite being too old to attend high school.

The petition for the restraining order was filed in Sherburne County District Court by the mother of a teenager who lives and works in that county. The filing says the girl was the man’s girlfriend while she believed he was 17 years old.

It alleges that he showed up at her home and work over her objections, and while at the State Fair together on Aug. 30, “he yelled aggressively at [her] multiple times, scaring her.”

Other times from July to September, the filing continued, he took photos and short videos of the girl ”although she repeatedly asked him not to."

The man “always told [her] that he was 17 [and] showed her a false ... birth certificate showing age 17,” the petition read.

In the petition, the mother says her daughter “is on high alert that once he’s out of jail, he will come to our home or her work and not leave as requested — may come repeatedly — may try to coerce her to come with him.”

Also on Friday, Honesti Jones, 18, of St. Paul, said she and the man worked together for a week or two late this past spring soliciting door to door on behalf of a Twin Cities remodeling company.

“He told a story about his documents were messed up and not being from here” said Jones, 18 and a recent graduate of Champlin Park High School. “And he said his age was messed up.”

Jones said the man told her he also just graduated from high school and was 18, “which I found strange. He definitely looked older. I did believe him because I have a couple of friends who look a lot older.”

She added that while the man she only knew as KJ looked older than 18, “he didn’t act older. He didn’t take anything serious.”

Jones said he talked about having problems with a girlfriend as well as being accused of a sexual assault, but “he just kind of laughed as he talked about it.”

Jones first told her story in a TikTok video that has drawn 180,000 views as of Friday afternoon. Several commenters also shared their interactions with him, including one who included a photo purporting to be of the man at a White Bear Lake high school football game the night before being arrested.

The Minnesota Star Tribune is not reporting the man’s true identity, because he has yet to be charged with a crime related to his time at White Bear Lake High School. He was recently held in the Washington County jail until in connection with violating terms of his probation stemming from a gross-misdemeanor indecent exposure conviction in March. In that case, the man sent sexually explicit photos to a minor over social media. He was released Thursday on his own recognizance.

The Star Tribune has reached out to the man’s attorney and family members for further information about his time at the high school and the criminal accusations.

The superintendent said the man certified on district forms during the enrollment process that he was a homeless unaccompanied youth. The superintendent explained that this designation “requires school districts to follow the [federal] McKinney-Vento Act, which mandates the immediate enrollment of eligible students even if they cannot provide standard documentation such as academic records, immunizations, or proof of residency.”

The man also presented a birth certificate from another country, which the superintendent’s message did not specify, showing he was 18 years old and eligible for high school enrollment, Kazmierczak continued.

Kazmierczak said the man was enrolled for 19 school days from Sept. 3 to Sept. 29. He signed up for football on Sept. 8 and attended three practices, the superintendent added.

“He did not compete in any contests or travel with the team to any away games,” according to the superintendent.

Kazmierczak’s message said the man enrolled under the name Kelvin C. Perry Jr. and not his actual name, which was shared in the statement.

On Tuesday, state Rep. Elliott Engen, R-Lino Lakes, sent a letter to Kazmierczak calling for his immediate resignation. Engen contended in his letter that “this failure represents a catastrophic lapse in basic enrollment verification protocols, student safety measures and administrative oversight, which are core responsibilities that fall squarely under your leadership as superintendent.”

Through a spokeswoman, Kazmierczak declined to respond to Engen’s letter.

Forest Lake school district spokeswoman Renae Reedy confirmed Wednesday to the Star Tribune that the man was a student there until January 2023 and that he played football there. Reedy said she’s unaware of her district having any concerns that the man, who was not too old to be in high school back then, enrolled there improperly.

On Thursday, a spokeswoman with the Centennial School District said the man received individually tailored instruction in the district’s Area Learning Center from Sept. 6, 2023, until Dec. 19, 2023. He then shifted to the learning center’s online program from Dec. 20, 2023, until May 28, 2024.

The man was 20 years old during that time, within the state’s statutory maximum for enrollment.