A 27-year-old Plainsboro man and tenured Hillsborough High School English teacher Kenneth Shindle was taken into police custody by local and county law enforcement yesterday for alleged inappropriate conduct with a 17-year-old female student.
According to Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Plainsboro Police Chief Guy Armour, an investigation into the alleged misconduct started when Plainsboro police responded to a “possible dispute” between Shindle and the student on his front lawn.
Following their investigation, Det. Timothy McMahon of the Plainsboro Police Department and Det. Mark Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that the teacher and his student had been engaged in the alleged inappropriate conduct from Jan. 1, 2018 until May 7.
During that time, officials said the student had unsupervised visits at the teacher’s home.
Shindle was charged with two second degree counts of endangering the welfare of a child; one count for engaging in sexual conduct that would impair or debauch the morals of the child and one count for causing harm to the child making her an abused or neglected child.
An official at the Hillsborough Township Public School District declined to comment on Shindle’s arrest or his current employment status at the high school. They did say, however, that the district was “working in full cooperation with law enforcement.”
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said Shindle is currently suspended from Hillsborough High School, where he had worked for five years and had earned tenure status.
Officials said Shindle is currently being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick, pending his initial court appearance today.
