“Let the punishment fit the crime” seems to be a concept lost on administrators at Paul Smith Middle School in Holiday, Florida.
14-year-old Domanik Green has been charged with a felony cybercrime — offense against a computer system and unauthorized access — for pranking a teacher he doesn’t like by swapping out the teacher’s desktop image for one of two men kissing.
The teen reportedly “shoulder surfed” the teacher’s computer password, which wasn’t hard to do seeing as it happened to be the instructor’s last name (come on, Teach). He then used it to trespass into the network and change the image.
Local authorities are using the incident as a warning. “Even though some might say this is just a teenage prank, who knows what this teenager might have done,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said, adding that, “If information comes back to us and we get evidence, [other students will] face the same consequences.”
Dominik was given a 10 day suspension and detained for questioning, partly because the computer he accessed had sensitive materials on it — the questions to Florida state exams. District officials have said the boy did not open those files, however.
via Tampa Bay Times
charwegl
Are you fucking kidding me. God, Florida is a hell hole.
M K
Let’s get serious….. the crime is not the content of the picture (it could have been puppies and kittens playing in a field of clover), it’s that he broke into the computer and did not have authorization….. that’s the crime. The headline is not only misleading, it’s a lie.
SteveDenver
Because: FLORIDA
Joey Fight
Lol
NoCagada
Well, at least the teacher didn’t find the kid and shoot him saying he felt threatened in Florida…
Luis H. Lopez
Ridiculous !
aliengod
@M K: Agree. Typical Queerty.
Perry M. Gentry
Florida. Of course.
Lee Collier
Man, I’m tired of queerty changing the facts to get clicks . Unfollowing this crap now.
SpunkyBunks
A felony? Because the kid is smarter than the teacher? GTFO Florida!
Having to attend public school is punishment enough.
Richard Holaday
The issue isn’t the photo… it’s the fact that he broke into a secure network illegally … that IS a felony.
polarisfashion
One, two, three, four, five, that’s amazing, I have the same combination on my luggage!
Come on teacher, you should know by now not to use an easy to guess password!
dhmonarch89
nothing is more heinous on the face of the Earth than an 8th grader!!!!!!!
Clark35
@M K: Exactly. But to be honest, the teacher or computer admin should have created a better password.
Arcamenel
Was it really necessary to give a 14 year old a felony charge for a prank?
Saint Law
@aliengod: And yet here you are. Again.
Giancarlo85
Florida FLORIDA FLORIDA!
The state where a guy can get off for killing an unarmed black kid who had nothing more than a skittles…
The state where a mother who killed her own kid gets off…
But a kid who posted a picture of two guys kissing… time to throw a book at him. Absolutely fucking ridiculous.
This is a KID we are talking about. Sometimes they are not aware of their actions. He should not charged for a felony because he isn’t an adult.
jestgr
What gets me about this story is that, according to a report on this same story on another news channel, the kid chose that picture because he thought the picture was “gross” and would embarrass the teacher. Why aren’t we talking about that? Why isn’t the kid getting sensitivity training? Come on, Queerty! A kid chose a picture of two men kissing because he thought it was gross and that’s not even mentioned in your story?
jwtraveler
“Even though some might say this is just a teenage prank, who knows what this teenager might have done,” Sheriff Chris Nocco said,…”
I always thought that the law punishes people for what they’ve done, not for what they “might have done”. If the kid entered a jewelry store with poor security and took some selfies of himself with the diamonds and posted them on-line, would he be charged with grand larceny because he “might have stolen” millions in jewels? If he pushed a kid down in the schoolyard, would he be charged with attempted murder because he “might have killed” him? I guess the law really does work differently in Florida.
@Richard Holaday: Obviously not so secure.
Dakotahgeo
This story serves as a prime example of what our education system has become. It would be so nice to have education administrators and law enforcement officers who weren’t children themselves! Common sense has left Planet Earth!
Corey J Hodges
I’d blame the teacher. He lacked sufficient training in cyber security. Not that I condone the act, which is technically a felony, but I think destroying a kids life with a felony charge for a stupid prank is a bit superfluous.
stranded
@M K: exactly, shame on queerty for misleading title, there’s enough unfair homophobic punishments in schools and universities without you trying to turn this incident into one. It’s about breaking into a teacher’s computer, that’s it. The contents of the picture does not matter, so why have it in the title?
Leonard Woodrow
The only wrong that has been done here is that of the teacher being so stupid. To use such a simple password to protect important files is a measure of his limited intelligence. HE is the one that should be called out, not the student.
DarkZephyr
What Queerty is neglecting to mention for some reason, is that this little shit as a homophobe and he put the picture on there because in his own words, he wanted the teacher to find “something gross” on his computer screen.
This is from the Huffington Post article about this case:
“I wasn’t really thinking, I was just kind of really annoyed at the teacher that day,” he told ABC Action News. “I took a picture off of Google and put it on his laptop and blew it up. That way, when he got on the laptop, there’d be a picture of something gross.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/13/domanik-green-florida-teacher-hacking-_n_7054880.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
William Mc Gregor
He broke the law. Case closed.
Giancarlo85
He is a kid. Kids don’t know any better. And to charge him with a felony is a complete and total exaggeration. As far as him being a homophobe… Is that enough to charge him with a felony and potentially destroy his life? Opinions and minds change when people get older. Come on people, use your head.
Dakotahgeo
@Giancarlo85: Unfortunately, Giancarlo85, as I’ve said before, common sense has left Planet Earth!
Sluggo2007
Another bit of bullshit sensationalism from Queerty.
sectbrawn
Because of his “prank” the teacher could have easily lost his job.
Ridpathos
The punishment fit the crime. The student gained unauthorized access to a teachers computer.
Glenn VanDruff
That’s bs. Cops and the court systems are seriously failing this country
Alex Rothwell
this is just ridiculous for this boy to get a felony charge, a major over reaction.
Richard Vincent Farias
Well, to be fair, it wasn’t the picture that got him charged; it was breaking into a school computer using a stolen admin password. That being said, the charge is major overkill.
Scott Sherman
It was also a computer with the Florida standardized tests on it…kid picked the wrong computer to hack…
Chris Mommaerts
omg what next
tdx3fan
I have to side with the state here. He broke into a protected computer system. That deserves punishment.
ait10101
It was an ill-conceived kid’s prank. A ten day suspension was plenty. Detaining him for questioning I have no problem with. Charging him would be overkill. If he had been an adult sexual harassment would have been appropriate. Unless, of course, he had taken sensitive material.