29-Year-Old Woman Arrested After Enrolling In New Jersey High School

Hyejeong Shin, a 29-year-old New Jersey woman, was arrested after she allegedly provided a fake birth certificate to the New Brunswick Board of Education to enroll as a juvenile high school student. She went to class for four days while she posed as a teenager before she was caught, reported CNN.

On Jan. 24, 2023, Shin was charged with one count of providing a false government document with the intent to verify one’s identity or age. That is considered a third-degree crime, according to a news release from the New Brunswick Police Department.

The NBPD also stated that New Jersey law requires schools to “immediately enroll unaccompanied children, even in the absence of records normally required for enrollment.” Given those circumstances, Shin “gained provisional admittance” to the high school, according to a statement that New Brunswick Public Schools Superintendent Aubrey Johnson gave CNN.

While Shin was at the school, she spent a lot of time with guidance counselors who tried to get more information from her, reported NBC News.

“Once our staff determined it was dealing with fraudulent information, they immediately notified the appropriate authorities. The wellbeing of our students, staff, and community are of utmost importance to us, and we will continue working with the police department and our other partners in addressing this matter,” Johnson said.

The school notified parents that an adult had been fraudulently enrolled in the school, and they cautioned students who had interacted with Shin to not have any further contact with her.

Shin was a 2019 graduate of Rutgers University, reported NJ.com. Neither school official nor police revealed what her possible motivations were for posing as a high school student. According to CNN, she is expected to appear for a hearing in Middlesex County Superior Court on Feb. 16.