Woman Arrested For Enrolling In High School Posing As Teenager

A 29-year-old woman was arrested in New Jersey for reportedly posing as a high school student.

The woman, who has been identified as Hyejeong Shin, has been charged with using a fake identification document to enrol in New Brunswick High School. She had been caught by staff after managing to attend school without raising any suspicion for four days.

Woman Arrested For Posing As School Student

The issue came to light when New Brunswick Public School District Superintendent Aubrey Johnson revealed to the attendees of a local education board meeting on Tuesday that Shin had been caught at school.

"Last week, by filing some false documents, an adult female posing as a student was able to be enrolled in our high school," said Johnson. He added that she had been in a few classes and spent time with the guidance counsellors, who tried to find out more about her.

Evidently, Shin was then uncovered, and the school notified the police immediately.

Shin has been arrested for proving a false birth certificate with the intent to enrol as a juvenile high school student, according to the New Brunswick Police Department.

While attending a few classes, Shin obtained the numbers of a few classmates who helped her find her way around the school. She continued to text the girls even after the ruse was discovered last week.

According to students, Shin had texted some of the students and asked them to meet at a location outside school. A student who identifies herself as Tatiana said that the night before the woman’s arrest she received a text from Shin that left her feeling scared for her safety. "All I wanted to do was make her feel comfortable in a new school. If she had the ability to falsify documents, enter a public school, and have close contact with young students, she'd have the ability to do anything," the student added.

Students claimed that they were worried that Shin’s behaviour suggested that her motives were far less comical.

According to school officials, police are probing the issue, and a review of the district’s enrollment process will be conducted soon.

New Jersey state law allows students to be enrolled in school without a guardian, identity verification, or other required documents. Students are given 30 days to provide additional proof of their identity, or the district has the option of declaring them ineligible to attend the school.

Shin was barred from entering the school grounds, and students were advised to avoid all contact with her.

As of now, neither the school nor the police have offered any information about a possible motive for Shin’s crime.

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