29-year-old N.J. woman allegedly faked birth certificate and pretended to be high school student
01/25/2023 3:29 pm PST
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (TCD) -- A 29-year-old woman is accused of taking a false birth certificate to a local high school and attending classes as she pretended to be a teen for several days before she was caught.
On Jan. 24, Charlie Kratovil posted a video on Twitter showing part of a Board of Education meeting in which New Brunswick Schools Superintendent Dr. Aubrey Johnson spoke about the woman and how she enrolled in school.
Johnson said, "By filing false documents, an adult female posing as a student was able to be enrolled in our high school."
She reportedly took classes for four days "before being found out."
She has since been "barred from entering the district property."
Johnson said she was in "a few classes," but spent a lot of time in the school's guidance area as officials were "trying to get more information from her."
The woman was reportedly arrested on a charge of providing false documentation.
NJ.com identified the woman as Hyejeong Shin.
According to New Brunswick Today, parents and teachers were reportedly informed about Shin's entry into the school and are prohibited from communicating with her.
NJ 101.5-FM reports New Brunswick Police said in a statement, "Schools are required to immediately enroll unaccompanied children, even in the absence of records normally required for enrollment. Proof of guardianship is not necessary to immediately enroll an unaccompanied child or youth."
The statement continued, "Although a school district might request documents such as a birth certificate to verify a child’s age, a school district may not prevent or discourage a child, including an unaccompanied child, from enrolling in or attending school because he or she lacks a birth certificate or has records that indicate a foreign place of birth, such as a foreign birth certificate."
At the meeting, Johnson said he and the schools will "take a look at our process" of checking for false documentation.
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