Man who posed as Kofa, Vista student graduated in 2005

The 22-year-old man arrested Wednesday for allegedly pretending to be a student at two Yuma high schools and having a sexual relationship with a minor actually graduated from a Florida high school four years ago, according to court records.

Court records indicated that Anthony M. Avalos, who is currently facing charges of forgery and sexual conduct with a minor, graduated from Crestview High School in Crestview, Fla., in 2005.

Avalos made his initial appearance in Yuma Justice Court at 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning before Justice of the Peace David Cooper.

Since Avalos was arrested before 1 p.m. on Wednesday, court officials said he needed to be seen before that same time the following day (which was Thursday)  in order to meet the 24-hour deadline for making his initial appearance in court.

Yuma police arrested Avalos for fraudulently attending Kofa High School and Vista Alternative School intermittently since September 2008. He is being held on a $110,865 bond.

Avalos' next court appearance will be Monday at 1 p.m, where he will be informed whether a criminal complaint has been filed against him.

The criminal investigation into Avalos began Wednesday after officials at Kofa brought it to the attention of the school resource officer.

According to court documents, a clerk at Kofa High School visited Avalos' Facebook page and discovered that he had posted that he graduated from Crestview High School in 2005.

Kofa High School Principal Gina Thompson then contacted Crestview High School to confirm the information Avalos had provided to the school, and the school administration in Florida provided Kofa officials with a copy of Avalos' birth certificate and social security number.

Court records indicate that Avalos, who was born in El Paso, Texas, admitted that he created the fake birth certificate, which he used to enroll in school, using a word processing program on his laptop.

He also admitted to having sex with a girl who he knew was under 18 years of age on at least three different occasions.

Court records also indicated that when asked by police why he was posing as a high school student, Avalos said he wanted to play basketball in hopes of getting a scholarship. 

Avalos was member of Kofa High's basketball team, where he played center.

Yuma police have said Yuma Union High School District is fully cooperating with this active investigation.

Yuma Union High School District Superintendent Toni Badone said Wednesday evening that Kofa officials acted "swiftly and appropriately."

The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this investigation to please call (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime to remain anonymous.

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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.