By: Richard L. Smith
Ocean County officials announced on Tuesday that Mr. Kyle Banner, 48, of Brick Township, was charged with Official Misconduct and three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Minor.
According to Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, on April 23, administrators at Toms River Intermediate North were alerted that Banner, a teacher at both Toms River Intermediate North and Ocean County College, posted explicit images of himself to his public Twitter profile.
Prosecutor Billhimer said the next day, Banner was suspended from his teaching position without pay.
A thorough investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit determined that students had viewed the explicit images by accessing Banner’s public Twitter profile.
A further investigation revealed that the photographs were taken in his classroom at Toms River Intermediate North. During the course of the investigation, Detectives also discovered that Banner sent inappropriate photographs of himself to a student via Snapchat in October of 2022.
Prosecutor Billhimer said detectives also recovered numerous images of Banner engaging in sexual conduct with himself in his classroom at Toms River Intermediate North.
Banner surrendered to the Toms River Township Police Department.
Prosecutor Billhimer said he was processed and transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he is currently lodged pending a detention hearing.