CANTONMENT, Fla. — A former Florida assistant important and her daughter, arrested for allegedly casting pretend votes to lend a hand the teenager win homecoming queen, spoke exclusively to “Good Morning America,” denying the allegations.In October 2020, J.M. Tate High School crowned Emily Grover, then 17, its homecoming queen. But months later, she and her mother Laura Carroll were arrested and now face a couple of felony fees stemming from the homecoming vote at the Pensacola high school.
While employed as an assistant main at the nearby Bellview Elementary School, Carroll accessed the varsity district’s internal gadget to solid fraudulent votes for her daughter so that she would win, officials said. The investigation started in November when the Escambia County School District reported unauthorized get entry to into masses of student accounts, in line with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Investigators discovered that in October, masses of votes for the school’s homecoming courtroom have been flagged as fraudulent, the scoop unencumber said. There had been 117 votes from the similar IP deal with within a short period of time, the investigation discovered.
That’s when investigators discovered proof of unauthorized get right of entry to to the machine connected to Carroll’s cellular phone and computers at her home. There were 246 votes solid for homecoming court from the ones devices.
Investigators mentioned since August 2019, Carroll’s account accessed 372 highschool records and 339 of those have been Tate students. These data contained personal knowledge like clinical history and take a look at scores.
Previous coverage: Mom accused of rigging homecoming vote so daughter may win
Each going through 16 years in prison, the mother-daughter duo is now talking completely to ABC News.
“When [a college reliable] wondered me, he didn’t really question me. He simply said, ‘Look, we've these kinds of statements, and we know you probably did it … that I rigged the election,” Grover said.
“Did you do this?” ABC News correspondent Will Reeve asked.
“No, no,” Grover mentioned.
Carroll informed Reeves that she may just no longer provide an explanation for how dozens of fraudulent votes had been traced to her telephone and family’s house.
“We do have forensics other people, and we've an investigator which might be helping us to take a look at to explain it … There’s evidence to end up that she may just no longer perhaps have executed that,” she stated.
Carroll, however, mentioned she was unable to detail that proof and Grover’s purported alibis prior to a trial.
Following the charges, Grover was once suspended from school, and Carroll lost her activity. The pair mentioned they’ve turn out to be outcasts in their native land.
“It was once onerous to watch, and you'll’t do anything else about it … We couldn’t pass anyplace as a result of this was once national news,” Carroll mentioned as Grover teared up.
Grover and Carroll said they rejected a plea deal and are actually preventing the fees in court docket.
“We did not do what they say we did, and I’m no longer prepared to plead out to one thing that I didn’t do,” Carroll mentioned.
“I wasn’t going to both,” Grover added.
Carroll mentioned the homecoming queen win used to be now not necessary to her or her daughter. They informed Reeves that Grover would have secured sufficient votes to take the gang even if the pretend votes weren’t counted.
Legal analysis
Each is charged with offenses against users of computers, pc systems, computer networks and digital units; illegal use of a two-way communications instrument; criminal use of in my opinion identifiable knowledge and conspiracy to dedicate the ones offenses.
“Let’s talk about what this is not. This isn't a voting fraud case. They’re no longer being charged for rigging the election. They’re being charged for accessing pc files, for misappropriating the power to get into that computer system,” stated ABC News chief criminal analyst Dan Abrams.
Abrams stated he believes prosecutors are overcharging in this case “in an effort to get them to plead down.”
Though Grover was once underage at the time of the alleged crimes, prosecutors charged her as an grownup.
“They have clearly made a statement here which is, ‘We’re going to drive you to admit duty for this, and as a result, we’re going to throw the whole thing at you.’ So far, it hasn’t labored,” he stated.
But without a plea deal, protection legal professionals will face difficulties making their case if this goes to trial, Abrams mentioned. Any evidence involving a digital footprint is definitely traceable, he said.
“If the defense is [that prosecutors] were given all of it unsuitable, that’s tricky. That’s going to be tricky. It sounds just like the protection is: ‘It couldn’t were as many votes as they say.’ But the perception that by hook or by crook none of this took place is going to be difficult. If you’re them, you almost certainly do need to give you the chance to steer clear of a trial,” Abrams stated.
The Associated Press contributed to this record.
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