Toms River, NJ, Teacher Pleads Guilty to 3 Counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child

A former teacher in Toms River has pleaded guilty to three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and now likely faces almost a year behind bars.

In addition to the prison time, the state plans to seek the forfeiture of 48-year-old Kyle Banner's teaching license along with a ban on any and all future public employment.

It was on April 23rd of this year when administrators at Toms River Intermediate North were alerted that Banner, who was a teacher at both that school and Ocean County College, posted sexually explicit pictures of himself to his public Twitter profile.

The next day, he was suspended from his teaching position without pay.

• An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office determined that students had viewed those sexually explicit images by looking at his Twitter profile.

• 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 pictures of himself to a student via Snapchat between the months of October and December 2022.

• Detectives also recovered numerous images of Banner "engaging in sexual conduct with himself" in his classroom at Toms River Intermediate North.

On May 23rd, Banner, a resident of Brick Township, surrendered himself to the Toms River Township Police Department. He was processed, taken to the Ocean County Jail, and then released per state bail reform guidelines.

At his upcoming sentencing, the state will seek 364 days in the Ocean County Jail on each charge, which will run concurrently, he will be under parole supervision for the rest of his life, and he will be required to register as a Megan's Law offender.