February 1, 23

NEWS / 29-year-old NJ woman arrested for forging birth certificate to enroll at local high school

A 29-year-old New Jersey woman has been arrested for forging the date of birth on her birth certificate in an attempt to enroll in her local New Brunswick high school. The woman, identified as Hyejeong Shin has been charged with providing a false document with intent to verify age or identity, a third-degree offense. Shin previously presented the document to the New Brunswick Board of Education. According to New Jersey law, schools are required to enroll an unaccompanied children without delay and are not supposed to discourage children from enrolling if they lack a birth certificate or have a foreign place of birth. According to New Brunswick High School, Shin attended classes at the school posing as a freshman for 4 days. According to CBS, one of the students reported that Shin sent text messages to several classmates asking them to “hang out” at Commercial Avenue. The students never showed up, and Shin was reported to have acting “weird” with them. Some parents were reportedly concerned about the situation, prompting a review of the enrollment process at the school, including methods to better detect false birth certificates and other vital records.