Teacher Arrested On Child Endangerment Charges

By Chris Lundy

TOMS RIVER – A teacher at Intermediate North was arrested for taking nude pictures of himself inside a classroom before posting them on social media. He is also accused of sending inappropriate images of himself to a student last year.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer confirmed 48-year-old Kyle Banner of Brick Township is suspended from his teaching job without pay. He was charged with Official Misconduct and three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

Police said that on Monday, April 23, administrators at Toms River Intermediate North were alerted that Banner, a teacher at both that school and Ocean County College, posted pornographic photographs of himself to his public Twitter profile. Investigators learned that students had viewed the these images on Twitter.

The photographs were taken in his classroom, police said. Detectives also recovered numerous images of Banner engaging in sexual conduct with himself 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.

On the day the accusations were made, Toms River Superintendent Michael Citta sent a letter to Intermediate North parents stating “Toms River Schools administration and my office have been made aware of the allegations of inappropriate behavior and conduct from an employee. The employee was immediately removed from the school, and information was turned over to law enforcement for investigation.”

“Please know that the safety and well-being of our students remains our number one responsibility, and any support you may need will be made available to you,” he added.

“I would encourage parents to have a conversation with their children if they had this defendant as a teacher. If anyone has additional information regarding this investigation, please contact Detective Graham Borg of the Toms River Township Police Department at 732-349-0150, or Detective Stephanie Bayha of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027, extension 3861,” Prosecutor Billhimer stated.

Billhimer thanked 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 Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit for their efforts.

Charges are merely accusations until proven in a court of law.

Jason Allentoff contributed to this story.