Teen charged as adult after police say she rigged homecoming queen election with her mom

[left-of-center2012]

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida teen accused of rigging a homecoming queen election with her mother is being charged as an adult, prosecutors said. Emily Rose Grover was still 17 when she was arrested in March. She turned 18 in April, and the State Attorney’s Office in Escambia County confirmed Tuesday that Grover will be tried as an adult. Grover and her mother, Laura Rose Carroll, 50, face multiple felony charges stemming from the October homecoming vote at Tate High School in Pensacola.

While employed as an assistant principal at Bellview Elementary School in the same county, Carroll accessed the school district’s internal system to cast fraudulent votes for her daughter so that she would win, officials said. The investigation began in November when the Escambia County School District reported unauthorized access into hundreds of student accounts, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Investigators found that in October, hundreds of votes for the school’s homecoming court were flagged as fraudulent, the news release said. There were 117 votes from the same IP address within a short period of time, the investigation found. That’s when investigators found evidence of unauthorized access to the system linked to Carroll’s cellphone and computers at her home. The were 246 votes cast for homecoming court from those devices.

Officials have confirmed that Carroll was suspended from her job, but it wasn’t immediately clear if she has been fired. Authorities said Grover was expelled from Tate High School. Each are charged with offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks and electronic devices; unlawful use of a two-way communications device; criminal use of personally identifiable information and conspiracy to commit those offenses. Prosecutors said the mother and daughter each face a maximum 16-year sentence.

https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/05/teen-charged-as-adult-after-police-say-she-rigged-homecoming-queen-election-with-her-mom.html

[Ocelot II]

1. Florida Women ruin their own lives.

And just so the daughter could be Homecoming Queen?

[PoliticAverse]

2. Wasn't that a Lifetime movie plot? n/t

[Mystery sage]

4. Will definitely be the inspiration for a movie for sure.

[malaise]

5. It is now

What is Ma's drug?

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

3. I don't understand how we have juvenile laws

But prosecutors always seem to circumvent it and charge kids as adults

[Sherman A1]

6. Wow!

That was really worth becoming Home Coming Queen.......

[Terry_M]

7. And in other news

Hundreds of GOP operatives gerrymandering legislative districts and disenfranchising millions of democratic party voters go unpunished.

[TheRealNorth]

8. They were auditioning to become DeSantis' next Director for the Division of Elections

[malaise]

9. Not so principled Ma will soon be party chairperson for

ReTHUGs

[Progressive Jones]

10. There's even a song.,.

[cojoel]

30. Stop it Debbie

you're embarrassing me!

[Hoyt]

11. That's low. I bet they serve no time, although mom has ruined her career.

Daughter will have to move.

[BoringUsername]

12. Idk, I think 16 years for the kid is a bit harsh for rigging a prom election

I don't want to see someone sit in jail for that long for messing with a prom election. Honestly, no one cares about high school prom after high school. The parent is more at fault here.

[BoringUsername]

13. Homecoming election

Is there a difference between prom and homecoming? I don't even know. I didn't care about this when I was in high school either, so I don't know.

[uponit7771]

14. +1,

[Ocelot II]

19. The crime was illegally accessing and tampering with confidential school records.

That's serious even if fiddling with a homecoming queen election isn't.

[demtenjeep]

23. it is more than just rigging a dance result. They committed cyber crimes

and that is wrong

[BoringUsername]

32. Still too long

That is far too harsh of sentence for the kid. The kid wouldn't have done any of that without the parent who was abusing the access they had because of their job. I feel the parent should be more accountable and I still think 16 years for the parent is too harsh. Maybe a year at most. We don't need to clog jails up with non-violent first time offenders who didn't steal anything of real value. I think a year in jail would be effective enough.

[rownesheck]

15. Why is that even a crime?

I don't agree with what they did, but it's for fucking homecoming queen! Does anyone actually care that much? If they do, they probably need to re-evaluate their priorities.

[Ocelot II]

16. It wasn't that they rigged the election; it was that they illegally accessed

and tampered with school district computer records. That was the crime, not messing with the election.

[left-of-center2012]

17. Illegal computer access into student accounts

Yeah, that's the crime.

[demtenjeep]

25. cyber crimes

hackers

[USALiberal]

34. Read the story closer!! Nt

[Renew Deal]

36. The people that committed the crime cared that much

[keithsw]

18. I kind of give

The stupid daughter a pass. But her mom should get 10 years just for being a fucking idiot

[cinematicdiversions]

22. Neither belong in jail.

We put to many people in jail as it is. Let alone for this silliness.

[demtenjeep]

27. cyber crimes

are serious

[cinematicdiversions]

29. I don't think the mother and daughter are hackers of the year here.

Honestly, the school district ought to be embarrassed it is that easy for someone to break in. The mother should get probation I honestly don't think the daughter should be charged due to her age and parental influence.

[BoringUsername]

33. Exactly...

They didn't do anything nefarious like identity theft or theft of money with the access. This is a pretty small cyber crime.

[boston bean]

20. Too much. It is just ridiculous money is being wasted on this prosecution.

Offer a plea for probation.

[Ocelot II]

21. They illegally accessed school computer records, which is kind of a big deal.

I doubt they'll do any jail time, though.

[boston bean]

24. It was just stupid. Really stupid.

[Celerity]

26. Florida

[obamanut2012]

38. Fail

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

28. Crime of the century in Floriduh

[Initech]

31. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[marie999]

35. If they are found guilty and only get probation they will still have a tough time finding jobs

with a felony conviction. It was a simple hack so they probably won't even get jobs as hackers.

[ecstatic]

37. Well hurry up and charge tRump. Nt