29-year-old scientist enrolled in high school and pretended to be a teenager

Hyejeong Shin is accused of falsifying a birth certificate and joining New Brunswick High School

A 29-year-old woman enrolled as a student at a New Jersey high school because she was lonely and “wanted to return to a place of safety,” her lawyers have said.

Hyejeong Shin is accused of falsifying a birth certificate and joining New Brunswick High School, pretending to be a teenager.

She was indicted by a grand jury for providing false documents and hindering her own prosecution, but has pleaded not guilty to the charges which could carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Her lawyers described a sad tale.

Ms Shin arrived in America from South Korea when she was 16 to attend a boarding school in Massachusetts.