Cybercrime among Utah Teens

The digital generation

With internet use among Utah teens being at an all-time high, it’s imperative to warn our youth about the dangers of cybercrime.  Cybercrime among teens can involve offenses such as cyber-bullying, illegally downloading media, and in the case of a fellow teen in Florida- computer hacking.

8th grader charged as an adult for prank

14 year old Domanik Green of Holiday Florida is being charged as an adult for a prank he pulled on a teacher.  Green made an immature decision to break into a teacher’s computer and change the desktop background to a picture of two men kissing.  Green was unaware that classified information about standardized test questions similar to Sage testing done by Utah teens was exposed on the system.  What he thought was a simple prank to irritate the disliked educator turned out to be a third degree felony.

The cybercrime

According to the Florida Computer Crime Act section 815.06 it states that “A person commits an offense against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, or electronic devices if he or she willfully, knowingly, and without authorization: […] Accesses or causes to be accessed any computer, computer system, computer network, or electronic device with knowledge that such access is unauthorized;[…] a felony of the third degree”. A similar law can be found in Utah State Code 76-6-703. Although Green had only accessed the background settings on the computer and was unaware he breached the confidential testing information, Pasco County officials are standing firm on the cybercrime charges.

Protect our Utah teens

Teens in Utah and around the U.S. are experts on computers and cybercrime is becoming more common among our youth. While teens may think they are safe with whatever they access online, there are many pitfalls they need to avoid. Educating our youth in what cybercrime entails is a critical first-step to protect them from adolescent mistakes. No Utah teens want to have a felony to follow them for the rest of their lives. For any teens in Utah presently facing charges for cybercrime, bring your case to a criminal defense attorney with experience to protect your adult record.