Hyejeong Shin, a 29-year-old woman from New Jersey, was arrested last week after posing as a high school student for four days.
Shin was charged with one count of providing a false government document with the intent to verify one’s identity or age after she gave a false birth certificate “with the intent to enroll as a juvenile high school student,” according to a New Brunswick police officer.
According to CBS New York, one student revealed Shin was pretending to be a freshman even though he didn’t believe she looked like a freshman.
Another student said that Shin asked other students to “hang out” with her outside of school.
Breaking news: An adult woman was arrested after posing as a child and providing fake documents to enroll in New Brunswick High School last week, @aubjohnson111 announced tonight.
— Charlie Kratovil (@Charlie4Change) January 25, 2023
She attended the school for four days and community members are concerned about her motives. pic.twitter.com/BLOwgFeyss
On Wednesday, a video was posted on Twitter of New Brunswick Public School District Superintendent Aubrey Johnson holding a Board of Education meeting to discuss the incident.
The caption on the video, written by reporter Charlie Kratovil of New Brunswick Today, read, “Breaking news: An adult woman was arrested after posing as a child and providing fake documents to enroll in New Brunswick High School last week, @aubjohnson111 announced tonight. She attended the school for four days and community members are concerned about her motives.”
“Last week, by filing some false documents, an adult female posing as a student was able to be enrolled in our high school,” Johnson said.
He later added that he cautioned students “to refrain from having any further contact with her either remotely or in person.”
He also applauded staff members at the school for uncovering Shin’s “ruse” which enabled them to address the situation “promptly.”
“This is an unfortunate event. Communication has been provided to the parents of individuals that the young lady may have come into contact with, and communication has been provided to all high school parents today,” he continued.
He concluded his meeting by stating that the incident was currently under police investigation.