Lehigh teen pleads no contest to hacking in to school district computer
A Lehigh Acres teen accused of hacking into Lee County Public Schools computer system and sending parents threatening messages has entered a no contest plea in juvenile court.
Diaz Pedro, 16, at the time of his February arrest, will learn his fate at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 24, said Samantha Syoen, a State’s Attorney’s Office spokeswoman. He was charged with one count of public order crime and two counts of offenses against intellectual property.
On Aug. 24, the Department of Juvenile Justice will come forward with a recommendation, Syoen said. The teen does not have a prior record.
According to a press release issued at the time by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office:
Deputies received several calls about a threatening phone message: “It is a good day to die; but the day is not yet over.” The end of the message directed the recipient to contact East Lee County High School if they had any questions.
Lee County School District administrators were contacted and it was discovered their “ParentLink” server had been compromised. The same phone message was sent to more than 1,800 parents and students of the high school before it was successfully interrupted by School District technical support.
The investigation reveals Diaz successfully obtained user names and passwords of administrators, teachers and students while attending school. From his home, he was able to access the server of the school district. This allowed him to breach the “ParentLink” server and begin sending the messages. He attempted to stop the messages about halfway through, but was unsuccessful.
Diaz also changed some of his grades and those of some other students. Additionally, he modified the “ParentLink” accounts of three school administrators.