A 29-year-old woman who posed as a high school student pleaded not guilty after attending the school for four days undetected in January.
Hyejeong Shin, a South Korean national in the US legally, caught the nation's attention after attending a New Jersey high school, with some believing that she had sinister intentions.
Shin came to the US at the age of 16 where she attended a private boarding school. Her attorney stated that it was her intention to find a similar atmosphere and safe environment at New Brunswick High, per ABC News.
Parents questioned how easy it appeared for the 29-year-old to enroll at the school, where she attended classes and met with guidance counselors during the four days she attended.
After it was discovered that she had provided a false birth certificate, Shin was removed from the school. Some parents believed that she had sinister, criminal intentions with their children.
In court on Monday (March 20), Shin's legal team claimed that their client's intentions were not malicious and that she had recently divorced her partner and was looking for a safe environment, as reported by the New York Times.
Darren Gelber, Shin's attorney, said via ABC News: "At no time was anyone or any student in danger and this entire case is more about my client wanting to return to a place of safety and welcoming and an environment that she looks back on fondly and nothing more."
Shin's short stay in the high school saw her earn a grand jury indictment and third-degree offense for false documents and hindering her own prosecution.
A statement from the school concluded that during their investigation they found no evidence that Shin posed a threat to either staff or students.
Gelber said about the case, via the Times: "It’s very bizarre. And it may be difficult for people to understand," with another lawyer Henry Hong Jung adding: "There are personal issues that she needs to resolve. She’s been away from home a long time."
The charges that Shin faces can see a maximum penalty of five years behind bars, but she intends to apply for a program that allows first-time offenders to avoid imprisonment and allows them to wipe their records clean after a successful probationary period.
When the story first broke in January, the President of the Board of Education, Dr. Dale Caldwell, defended their failed vetting of Shin as she managed to get admitted to the school.
As per the Daily Mail, Caldwell said that there was "no indication" that Shin wasn't the age that she stated, and that she "didn't look like a grandmother."
Calwell told TAPinto: "My dad marched in the Civil Rights Movement to fight that thing that people look at you because you're Black or you're short or you're tall or you're old and make judgments of you. You can't do that. There are some kids in the school who look very, very old, but some kids look very, very young."
After 13 years in the US, Gelber says that his client will return to her home and family in South Korea once the case is settled.
