A 29-year-old woman is facing charges after pretending to be a teenager and attending a New Jersey high school for four days.
Hyejeong Shin of New Brunswick was charged with one count of providing a false government document with the intent to verify one’s identity or age, the school district announced Tuesday.
Investigators say Shin “provided a false birth certificate to the New Brunswick Board of Education with the intent to enroll as a juvenile high school student.” She sat for classes for nearly a week before school staff busted her during their vetting process last week. CBS New York reports that she even texted other students in an attempt to hang out with them outside of school.
So how was the woman able to take classes in the first place? Well, in New Jersey, students are allowed to attend school on a provisional basis and have 30 days to confirm their identity before being declared ineligible to attend classes.
School officials have told students who encounter the woman “to refrain from having any further contact with her either remotely or in person.”
In light of the situation, Superintendent Dr. Aubrey Johnson announced that the district plans to examine its enrollment processes to “better look for fake documentation.”
