Sex Offender, 29, Posed As Homeless Teen To Enroll At Twin Cities High School: Charges

MAPLE GROVE, MN — A 29-year-old registered sex offender from Oregon is charged with three felonies after allegedly posing as a homeless 17-year-old in order to enroll at a Twin Cities suburban high school.

Makayla Ray Craig was charged Thursday in Hennepin County District Court with two counts of aggravated forgery and one count of forgery, according to a criminal complaint.

Craig remains in custody, with bail set at $50,000.

On Oct. 19, a concerned staff member at Maple Grove High School contacted Maple Grove police about someone who was trying to enroll as a student at the school on Fernbrook Lane North, the complaint states.

The applicant had filled out enrollment paperwork under the name Molly Lennox Fox and claimed to be a homeless youth from Oregon without any identification documents, according to charges.

The applicant pushed for immediate enrollment, citing the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law meant to guarantee homeless children and teens access to public schools. Because there was no identification, the school placed the student in an online program, the complaint says.

Investigators determined that the person claiming to be 17-year-old Molly Fox was actually Craig, who was born in 1997.

After being read the Miranda warning, Craig continued to give police the name Molly Lennox Fox and a 2009 birth date, charges say. Craig told officers that getting sober was part of the motivation to start school and claimed to have never attended school before.

According to the complaint, Craig said an alternative high school in Minneapolis had initially accepted the application, and the plan was to attend classes in person to "get the full experience."

Craig told police about crashing a vehicle while driving without a license, which prompted a search for a school closer to where Craig was staying. That led to the application at Maple Grove High School, again with plans to attend in person, the complaint states.

Craig told police about filling out the enrollment form and a temporary occupancy form without help. Before meeting school staff in person, Craig had warned them about looking older than 17 so they would not be alarmed, according to charges.

Craig also told officers about worrying over being mistaken for Makayla Ray Craig, a registered sex offender from Oregon, the complaint says.

Police then learned that Craig is a registered sex offender from Sweet Home, Oregon, who was convicted in May 2023 and has been out of compliance with registration requirements since October 2025. The victim in that case appears to have been a minor, according to the complaint.

Each aggravated forgery count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The forgery count carries up to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.