Accused Teacher Told Toms River Students To Follow Him Online: Affidavit

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River intermediate school teacher accused of taking explicit photos of himself in his classroom told his students to follow him on social media and said he looked at boys while they were in the locker room, according to court documents.

Kyle W. Banner, 48, of Brick, was charged on May 23 with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct in connection with photos he posted of himself masturbating in his classroom at Toms River Intermediate School North, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced.

Authorities say Banner posted numerous photos on Twitter of his exposed genitals that he had taken in his classroom at Intermediate North, where he has been a history teacher for 23 years. He also posted photos that were taken in his classroom at Ocean County College, where he had been teaching since at least 2010, according to comments on the website Rate My Professor.

The photos, which authorities said were posted on Banner's Twitter account, were reported to the Toms River Schools administration on April 23 by the older sister of a student who had seen the photos, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Banner was suspended without pay by the Toms River Regional School District on April 24, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. He also was suspended by Ocean County College, an official there confirmed. Read more: Toms River Teacher's Students Saw His Porn On Twitter: Prosecutor

Authorities reviewed the postings on Banner's Twitter account and found "There were numerous posts ... stating he likes body parts of young male students and he looks at boys while they are in the locker room, as well as other inappropriate material," according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, authorities at least three students who had seen the photos, and also spoke with Toms River schools administrators to confirm they were taken in the classroom that had been his since 2019.

The student who discovered the photos told authorities he recognized the furniture and layout of the room, according to the affidavit.

Another student interviewed told authorities she looked up Banner's YouTube account after his name came up during a discussion in a group chat among 12 students about middle school teachers. That student found the Twitter account and saw some of the explicit photos Banner had posted, and shared the link with her friends, according to the affidavit.

On May 16, a case worker with the state Department of Children and Families reported Banner had sent explicit photos to a student, according to the affidavit. That student, a current member of Banner's class, told authorities Banner had them take out their phones on the first day of the 2022-23 school year and follow him on social media.

He later asked for the student's Snapchat account and began sending him messages, including a photo of Banner shirtless, wearing only boxers — along with bringing him food and hugging him, all of which the student told authorities made him uncomfortable, the affidavit said.

Banner had multiple social media accounts on a variety of platforms including Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Spotify, along with an Only Fans account and an account on a dating site. He regularly interacted with his students on TikTok, cooked and brought food to them in school and encouraged him to send him direct messages, Patch found in a review of the TikTok account. Read more: District Angry Over Toms River Teacher's Alleged Porn Photos In School

Some of his accounts were under his real name; others were under pseudonyms. It's not clear from the affidavit whether the Twitter account was under Banner's real name or not. A Twitter account under the pseudonym had been deactivated.

In addition to the interviews, authorities seized Banner's phone and iPad, and under a court-approved warrant downloaded "numerous images" of Banner engaging in sexual conduct in his classroom.

Banner, whose salary is $87,095, was released to await trial at a detention hearing Tuesday, over the objections of the prosecutor's office, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan set several conditions on Banner's release, including a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., barred Banner from contacting the victims or having any unsupervised contact with minors, and barring him from any Toms River Regional Board of Education property unless he must go there for meetings regarding his employment; he must have written permission from the district, the report said.