Teacher Who Took Porn Photos In Toms River Classroom Pleads Guilty

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River intermediate school teacher who took photos of himself masturbating in his classroom and sent pornographic photos of himself to a student has pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday.

Kyle Banner, 48, of Brick Township, pleaded guilty on Monday to three counts of endangering the welfare of a child before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

At sentencing, the state is expected to seek a term of 364 days in the Ocean County Jail for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently, the prosecutor's office said. His sentencing also is anticipated to include Banner forfeiting his teaching license and being banned from future public employment, along with requiring Banner to register as a sex offender, the prosecutor's office said.

The sentencing date was not announced.

Banner's photos of himself masturbating in his classroom, which he posted to his public Twitter profile, were reported to district administrators on April 23.

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.

He was suspended from his job without pay on April 24 by the Toms River school district while an investigation was conducted.

On May 23, Banner was arrested and charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct in connection with photos, authorities said.

Banner told his middle-school students to follow him on his social media accounts, authorities said. One student who spoke with investigators said Banner asked for his 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.

Banner had multiple social media accounts on 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

Banner was suspended by Ocean County College, an official there confirmed. Read more: Toms River Teacher's Students Saw His Porn On Twitter: Prosecutor