29-year-old woman posed as a high school student for four days before getting caught

There is growing anxiety among students and parents after a 29-year-old woman was found posing as a high school student in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Shin Hye-jung (29) has been allegedly posing as a high school student and attending the school for four days before the school staff found out her age. She has been charged with one count of third-degree providing a false government document with the intent to verify one’s identity or age.

According to the New Brunswick Police Department, Shin enrolled in school classes and even texted her classmates and asked to hang out.

Student Tatiana said in an interview with New Brunswick Today, “I was in class with this woman, and talked to her, walked her from point A to point B, and never expected this to happen. Not knowing she was a 29-year-old woman makes me question how safe I am in this building.”

One parent said, “I was shocked to hear about this from my daughter,” adding, “I don’t know why the school didn’t notice this earlier.” Another student said, “Shin texted the students in the same class to hang out, but no one went,” adding, “If we did, we don’t know what could have happened.”

According to the police, Shin submitted a forged birth certificate that stated her age as 15 years old, but was caught during the identification process of her parents. After raising suspicion, Shin decided to leave the school and revealed she was actually 29 years old.

The police are currently investigating the details of the incident.

 

BYKIM YEJIN [yejin3@koreadaily.com]