A former Toms River middle school teacher was sentenced to 180 days in jail Friday, and permanent supervision after pleading guilty last November to three counts of child endangerment, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Friday.
In addition to the prison sentence, Kyle Banner, 49, of Brick Township must register as a sex offender and is subject to the terms of Nicole’s Law, prohibiting him from having any contact with the victims. Banner must also forfeit his teaching license and is banned from holding public employment in the future.
Administrators at Toms River Intermediate North school were alerted to sexually explicit photos of Banner posted to his public Twitter account on April 23, 2023. A former student and his sister reported the images to the school’s principal in an email, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Banner was suspended by the school district the next day without pay, according to officials.
Students had viewed the images on Banner’s Twitter page, authorities said. The photos were taken in his classroom, an investigation by the Special Victims Unit and High Tech Crimes unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and local police found.
Banner was also accused by investigators of sending inappropriate photographs of himself to a student through Snapchat between October and December 2022. Authorities said they recovered several images of Banner engaging in sexual acts with himself in his classroom.
Besides being a public school teacher, Banner also taught courses at Ocean County College, officials said.
Banner surrendered to Toms River Township police on May 23, 2023, authorities said. He was processed at the Ocean County Jail and released after his surrender, according to officials. As of Friday, Banner is currently housed in the Ocean County Jail, prison records show.
An attorney for Banner did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
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Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X
