Rutgers grad who enrolled in New Brunswick High School missed friendships, lawyer says
NEW BRUNSWICK – A 29-year-old city woman charged with using fake documents to enroll as a New Brunswick High School student earlier this year is hoping to avoid jail in a pre-trial intervention program.
Hyejeong Shin, a 2019 graduate of Rutgers University, appeared before a Middlesex County judge Monday, ABC New York reported.
Shin was charged in January with one count of providing a false government document to the New Brunswick Board of Education to enroll in New Brunswick High School as a teenage student. She allegedly provided the school district with a false birth certificate and was issued a summons for the third-degree offense and released pending the court appearance.
At that time police said nothing was revealed to indicate Shin's intentions for enrolling at the high school was to bring harm or violence to students, staff or faculty.
Her attorney, Darren Gelber of the Wilentz firm, said his client, a native of South Korea, came to the U.S. alone at age 16 to attend a boarding school and missed the friendships she had in high school and was hoping to recreate those friendships at New Brunswick High School, ABC New York reported.
Gelber told ABC New York no other students were in danger from his client's actions, and she plans to return to South Korea once the case is resolved.
Shin gained access to New Brunswick High School as a student the week of Jan. 16 and attended classes for less than a week. After staff discovered the deception, she was barred from district property, according to the superintendent of schools.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Rutgers grad who enrolled in New Brunswick High 'missed friendships'
