The 28-year-old woman who allegedly faked being a teen to attend a New York City high school had long dreamed of moving to the Big Apple to become an actress, according to her ex-husband.
Kacy Claassen, who is actually a divorced mom of one from Kansas, was busted posing as a 16-year-old girl at the Westchester Square Academy in the Bronx last month, cops allege.
The wannabe teenager’s motive for her alleged scheme wasn’t immediately clear — but her ex-husband, Kenneth Ault, told the Daily Mail she always had a “vivid imagination.”
“She aspired to be an actress, and would talk about New York, so whatever is going on is beyond me,” he said in the wake of her arrest.
“I found it a little amusing that she thinks she could do something like that,” Ault said after his ex was nabbed for the bizarre alleged scheme to act out being a teen student.
“I have no ill will towards her and hope she gets the help she needs.”
The couple tied the knot in 2021 but Claassen filed for divorce two years later, court records show.
The divorce came around the time Claassen lost custody of her two-year-old daughter from a prior relationship, Ault claimed, adding the child ended up in the care of Claassen’s parents.
Claassen, for her part, apparently then set about trying to rebuild her life and regain custody of her child, according to her ex-husband.
In a 2023 article in her hometown news outlet, Claassen detailed how she was using a nonprofit’s transitional housing program because she was unemployed and homeless.
“It was definitely a humbling experience,” Claassen told the Hays Post at the time.
Ault claimed Claassen had to hold down a job for six months, have a permanent place to stay and maintain financial records in a bid to try and regain custody of her kid.
“I planned to do that with her. I never mistreated her, we had our ups and downs like any normal couple,” Ault said.
He said she spent the next two years working as an aide at Developmental Services of Northern Kansas where she helped adults with mental disabilities.
Then, Ault said his ex-wife abruptly quit the role last year and stopped speaking to him.
He claimed a mutual friend later told him that she had apparently gone to North Carolina to meet someone she met online before heading to New York.
Claassen eventually enrolled at Westchester Square Academy under the name Shamara Rashad last month, according to a criminal complaint.
The alleged fraudster, who claimed she had just moved to the Big Apple from Ohio with her sister, was issued a school ID with her phony name and age.
Her scheme, though, unraveled when the principal found her real Facebook profile and confronted her with screenshots showing her true age and photos of her daughter.
Claassen was arrested April 27 at the school campus and is charged with endangering the welfare of a child, trespassing and criminal impersonation.
She has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on June 15, court records show.