Officials Say Hatboro-Horsham Student Found and Punished For Disruptive E-Mail
By Brad Segall
HATBORO, Pa. (CBS) -- Authorities in Montgomery County, Pa. have now closed out a nearly seven-month investigation into the intrusion and release of private information involving students at Hatboro-Horsham High School.
Prosecutors say a 17-year-old student at the school was responsible for sending out a rogue e-mail that contained the grade-point average and class rank information for students at the school (see previous story).
That student has now gone through the juvenile court system and will be serving 100 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution.
"Had the facts been different and the damage been different, it could have had a very significant effect on his life," says Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman. "I think in the end we were able to resolve it in a way that made sense for the school, made sense for the juvenile, and made sense for law enforcement."
Ferman would not talk specifically about how the student accessed the information, but she believes it was just a stupid, juvenile prank and was not done to be malicious in any way.
The student is no longer at the school.
