Gwinnett County, Ga. — Officials said a young man pretending to be a wealthy transfer student is being banned from all Gwinnett County schools after he bought gorgeous items for teenagers and sneaked into high school.
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The unidentified man has convinced several students at Seckinger High School that he is a new student in Korea before meeting at a Georgia mall.
“He came and met them at the mall, bought them all four gorgeous perfumes and a cologne, offered to pay for all their food and give them money,” said Lydia Clark, whose daughter met the man over the weekend.
Clark says she didn’t learn until later that the “new student” her daughter told her was someone over the age of 18.
“If this person is this manipulation and can persuade all these kids with very viable information, then what else he can persuade them,” Clark told Channel 2’s Gwinnett County Director Matt Johnson.
Seckinger School officials found a man on campus Friday after he was passed through the side door by a student he was convinced of his story. The school’s resource officer issued him a criminal trespass warning and banned him from all Gwinnett County School property.
Clark says the most unsettling aspect of the situation is not knowing the motivation behind the actions.
“It’s scary, and I feel like there might be some kind of triangle of people trying to do this,” she said. “If he has a personal driver, and if he has these elaborate stories of these students in these schools and in those pictures, it just feels very strange.”
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Principal Jimmy Fisher wrote to parents on Tuesday to warn them of the situation and urge their families to discuss online safety with their children.
“School resource officers are actively investigating the situation and work closely with other local law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of all students,” Fisher wrote.
Officials say the man has been in the relationship for months by reaching out to social media students, sharing information about mutual friends and claiming he is extremely wealthy.
Clark warns other parents to be more vigilant about teenagers’ online activities.
“This is an alarm call that many parents will really pay attention to what your teenagers do and the names they say when they hang out with people,” she said.
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Hall County schools also encountered young people.
Stan Lewis, the director of communications at Hall County School, sent the following statement to Channel 2 Action News:
An individual who matches the description of a man issued a crime trespass warning by a Seckinger High School employee tried to enroll in one of our high schools yesterday. When school staff pointed out that he did not have the proper documentation and that he was not of the right age, he was instructed by the principal to go elsewhere.
Local law enforcement agencies and our school SROs have been notified. All of our schools are advised to continue to monitor this individual and contact law enforcement immediately if he appears on any of our campuses.
Additionally, we reached out to all families in the district and encouraged parents to tell students about the dangers of communicating with unknown individuals online. They were asked to remind students to report suspicious activity to trustworthy adults. Additionally, anyone can report their concerns on anonymous tiplines on their district web pages.
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