A Florida mom and her teenage daughter face multiple felony charges after the police determined in an investigation that they have rigged a school popularity contest. The pair, however, denied their involvement in the Homecoming Queen scandal.
In an interview with the Daily Beast, Carroll said they would never plead guilty because they didn't commit any crime. However, they welcome the trial, which will start in January 2022, so they can clear their name and "let the whole honest story come out."
Carroll, 50, works as a vice-principal at the Bellview Elementary School while her daughter, Emily Grover, 17, is a local tennis champ and a popular student at Tate High School. Court documents showed that the mother and daughter pair could likely face 16 years for hacking and committing high-level ransomware attacks to manipulate the Homecoming Queen votes in Grover's favor.
How the Mother and Daughter Allegedly Pulled it Off
Investigators learned that Grover was able to retrieve several student IDs and birthdates from a computer system at her mother's office, which had access to a district-wide record. Using the data, the mother and daughter allegedly made at least 246 fake votes using Carroll's mobile and their home computer.
The Homecoming Queen scandal enlisted a third-party app, called Election Runner, to conduct the votes. Caroline Gray, the teacher in charge of the votes, noticed that the app flagged several "false" votes on the day of the Homecoming Queen coronation.
Gray asked some of the students about their votes, especially from someone who allegedly logged in at the odd hour of 4:00 a.m. The students told her they either didn't vote or got a message from the app stating they had already voted.
Though Gray reported the incident to the superintendent, Malcolm Thomas, the school announced Grover as the Homecoming Queen. Later that day, accompanied by her father, Bubba Grover, the 17-year-old proudly marched at the school field for her coronation.
However, that same week, the Escambia County School District reported the hacking to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Investigators noted that at least 117 votes came from only one IP address which was linked to the devices of Carroll. The investigators further learned that Carroll has been accessing private records of Tate students since August 2019.
However, speaking with ABC News, Carroll could not explain how hundreds of votes were traced back to her phone and home computer. Based on the investigations, Carrol was fired from her job while her daughter was suspended and eventually kicked out of Tate High School.
Emily Told Friends She Could Access Records
Despite their denial, a friend of Grover said that they are aware the teenager could access student records from her mother's computer. One student, who has known Grover since their freshmen year, confirmed that Grover told them of their test scores ahead of time.
Carroll told the Daily Beast that they were coming after her daughter because of some angry moms. She said that the Homecoming Queen recognition is a big deal in their small town.
"It's a huge expense, and a lot of effort for what is basically a popularity-beauty contest," the mother said.
Randy Etheridge, the lawyer for the mother and daughter pair, said that someone "within the school district" tipped the authorities based on a "hearsay." No one has direct knowledge that Grover and her mother rigged the results of the Homecoming Queen scandal.
