Despite glaring red flags, district officials failed to prevent a grown man from enrolling — and attending classes — alongside minors for nearly two years.
Despite knowing the man was a Venezuelan national with no verified educational history and a highly questionable backstory, Perrysburg Schools still allowed him to enroll as a ’16-year-old’, placing him in classrooms with underage students for nearly two years. As the truth comes out and the community demands accountability, district leaders insist they were “deceived”.
“This wasn’t some clever con. The guy was 24, from another country, with a license and a fake story. The fact that no one caught it isn’t deception — it’s negligence.”
— Concerned Parent
In yet another stunning display of institutional failure, Perrysburg Schools are scrambling to explain how a 24-year-old man was able to pose as a 16-year-old student and walk the halls of Perrysburg High School for a nearly two years — undetected.
The revelation, confirmed by Perrysburg Police on May 19, is more than just a bizarre headline — it’s a disturbing breach of trust that has left parents angry, shaken, and demanding answers.
- Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra, a 24-year-old Venezuelan national, allegedly posed as a 16-year-old student using fraudulent documentation.
- He attended Perrysburg High School for almost two years, taking part in regular classes with underage students.
- Anthony was on the swim team, and allegedly dated his underage classmates.
- The man overstayed in the US on an expired visa, but still managed to obtain a Social Security number and Ohio driver’s license.
- He was granted temporary and later permanent guardianship through a local couple, with the school accepting those legal arrangements without deeper scrutiny.
- His true identity was only revealed after the mother of his child contacted his guardians, exposing his age and background.
- Superintendent Tom Hosler issued a letter calling the case “highly unusual,” but many see this as a deflection of the district’s core failure to protect its students.
The man, Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra, a Venezuelan national, was arrested after it came to light that he had enrolled at the school using fraudulent documents, including a falsified birth certificate listing his birth year as 2007. In reality, Labrador was born in 2001 and had already fathered a child — a fact that came to light when the child’s mother blew the whistle by contacting his legal guardians.
The most pressing question is also the most obvious: How did this happen?
And equally disturbing: How many officials reviewed his paperwork, interviewed him, or saw him in class, and said nothing?
A Staggering Oversight
Despite being a full-grown adult, complete with an Ohio driver’s license, a long-expired visa, and various tattoos, Labrador managed to blend in as a sophomore or junior — attending classes, engaging with minors, and participating in school life. For months.
The district claims the man was granted enrollment in early 2024 and was under the guardianship of two adults who had allegedly adopted children in the past and hosted foreign exchange students. The school district confirmed that this was not a clerical error or paperwork mix-up — this was a complete breakdown in protocol at every level.
The revelation that the man was also issued a Social Security number and temporary custody was approved by a judge only raises more eyebrows — but that’s not the school district’s out.
As one parent told us bluntly, “It’s the school’s job to keep our kids safe. They failed.”
A Pattern of Evasion
Superintendent Tom Hosler, already embattled from other sexual predator coverups and controversies, issued another carefully worded letter to parents, trying to yet again distance himself and the district from any responsibility. Hosler framing the issue as an extraordinary and “deceptive” case that impacted “many local, state, and federal agencies.”
But this is exactly the kind of leadership vacuum the community has grown tired of: deflecting, dodging, minimizing, and covering up — instead of owning what happened and fixing it.
The truth is, it should not take a mother of a child — from a different country — to alert a school district that a grown man is sitting next to your daughter in biology class.
And while the legal guardians may ultimately bear some responsibility, it was the district that approved the enrollment. It was the district that gave him access. It was the district that failed to protect its students.
Parents Demand Accountability
In the wake of the scandal, concerned parents and even state legislators (see below) are demanding an independent audit of enrollment practices and an immediate overhaul of the district’s vetting process.
Some are asking: “Was this a one-off, or is this the first time the public is hearing about a larger pattern of neglect?“
Others are asking why Perrysburg Schools, with its vaunted reputation and administrative budget, had no mechanism to flag the very obvious red flags in front of them.
In a time where school security is supposedly top-of-mind, it seems that basic due diligence — like confirming someone’s age (or immigration status) — was just too much to ask.
State Representative Josh Williams’ – Demanding Answers:
State Representative Haraz Ghanbari’s – Calling For Accountability:
Perrysburg Stands Up 
This is all
LikeLike