Asian woman arrested for pretending to be a student at US high school

An Asian woman, who shares the same name as a famous K-pop star, has been arrested for pretending to be a student to join a US high school.

The 29 year old New Jersey-based woman was nabbed by cops for posing as a high school student four days after she enrolled at the school.

The Asian-looking woman, identified as Hyejeong Shin, has been charged with using a fraudulent identification document to enrol at New Brunswick High School, New Jersey. She was able to attend school for four days before her age was discovered by the school staff.

School officials revealed that the police are conducting an investigation and that the school district will be reviewing their enrollment process.

The fraudulent woman shares the same name as K-pop star Shin Hye-jeong, better known as Hyejeong, a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group AOA. She too is 29 years old.

K-pop star Hyejeong

The incident was brought to attention during a meeting of the local education board on Tuesday, where the Superintendent of New Brunswick Public School District, Aubrey Johnson, informed the attendees that Shin had been apprehended at the school.

Johnson said…

“Last week, by filing some false documents, an adult female posing as a student was able to be enrolled in our high school.

“She had been in a few classes and spent some time with guidance counsellors, who tried to find out more information about her.

“Shin’s false age was then uncovered and the school immediately notified the police.

“She has since been arrested for providing a false birth certificate ‘with the intent to enrol as a juvenile high-school student.’”

One student informed CBS New York that Shin had texted some of the schoolgirls to hang out but they did not so “she [Shin] started acting weird with them.”

According to the police, the state law of New Jersey allows students to be enrolled in school without the presence of a guardian or without completing all the required paperwork.

Johnson added…

“This is an unfortunate event. Communication has been provided to the parents of individuals that the young lady may have come into contact with and communication was also provided to all high school parents today.”

An adult posing as a high school student is not a new phenomenon, reported the BBC.

Brian MacKinnon, a 30 year old man, famously did so in 1993 when he enrolled as a fifth-year student in a high school near Glasgow, claiming to be a 17 year old from Canada.

He remained in the school for an entire year before he was exposed a year later when he was a student at Dundee University’s medical school.

His story garnered worldwide attention and was even made into a documentary film in 2022.

New Brunswick High School