Scout banned from troop by National

[PeterLewis]

A 17 year-old scout recently got in trouble for hacking into his school's computer system and ended up getting arrested and charged with felonies. Shortly after this broke the news, he received a letter from National informing him that he was kicked out of the troop and banned from the BSA, without consulting the troop or the family. However, the news never revealed that he was involved with scouting, the kid has never been in any trouble before, the charges will most likely be dropped, and the incident had nothing to do with the BSA. How could this have happened? Who would have authorized an order like this? What are the official policies/procedures for this kind of situation?

[DuctTape]

Hi. Welcome to the virtual campfire. 

I have no knowledge of this event, nor do I know the official procedures. I would surmise the official letter had more details.

Are you involved with the troop or this scout in some way?

[MattR]

I have no idea what the official policies are for dealing with a scout that has been changed but not convicted of a felony. Sounds like someone making a quick decision with partial information. Maybe assuming that these charges will be dropped is also a quick decision with partial information?

[skeptic]

There is nothing obvious on the net regarding this, and with the media attitude towards BSA, that is surprising to say the least.  Perhaps this can be actually verified?

 

[CynicalScouter]

There are way, way too many missing pieces of this story to be able to figure this out. Without more details, any answer would be 90% speculation (at best).

[TAHAWK]

THIS MIGHT BE IT:

"CARY, N.C. (AP) — A student has been arrested and charged with hacking into the computer system and changing some grades at Panther Creek High School in Cary.

Multiple media outlets reported that police said the arrest followed a months-long investigation.

The student from Morrisville has been charged with felony accessing government computers, felony breaking and entering, and misdemeanor accessing government computers.

If convicted on all the charges, the student could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.

School administrators noticed a problem with their computer system in October.

The investigation determined that grades had been changed for a number of senior students, including his own.

School officials have said they will restore proper class ranking and notify colleges of the proper grades."

SOURCE ABC

 

"LOCAL NEWS

"Student charged in Panther Creek High hacking

Posted February 3, 2016 10:07 a.m. EST Updated February 3, 2016 6:28 p.m. EST

CARY, N.C. — A Panther Creek High School student was arrested Wednesday in connection with a hack of the school's computer system last fall, police said.

Saivamsi Hanumanthu, 17, of  Pilot Hill Drive in Morrisville, was charged with felony accessing government computers, felony breaking and entering and misdemeanor accessing government computers. He was released on a unsecured $15,000 bond to the custody of his parents.

Cary police began investigating unauthorized access to Panther Creek High's computers on Oct. 13 and later determined that the system had been hacked into several times and that student grades had been changed.

Wake County school officials discovered that an email sent from one Panther Creek High teacher to another a few days before the initial hacking contained keystroke-tracking malware, according to a search warrant in the case.

The affidavit police submitted to obtain the warrant to search Hanumanthu's home stated that he had been seen sneaking into the school office after school on Oct. 22 and was later confronted by a teacher in a locked classroom with what appeared to be a laptop computer.

Two weeks before that, according to the affidavit, the PowerSchool system, a state database that tracks student attendance and grades at the school, was hacked into on three separate occasions, and the grades and class ranks of six students were changed. A total of 90 grades were changed in the system, and half of them belonged to Hanumanthu, a senior who saw his class rank improve from 67th to seventh, the warrant states."

 

SOURCE: WRAL.COM

 

Perhaps   :Peter Lewis" can tell us more. 

[CynicalScouter]

20 minutes ago, TAHAWK said:

THIS MIGHT BE IT:

Let me say this: IF (and I mean IF) big if, massive, if. IF the young man identified is the one that National sent a letter to, then I can't blame them.

1. The name appeared in local media. From there it could have gone to the District Executive, the Scout Executive, or both.
2. BSA is not a government entity. There's no right to due process here. No one has to be convicted of anything in order to be tossed out of scouting.
3. Arrest warrant means they convinced a judge there was probable cause a crime had been committed. Moreover, even in @PeterLewis' description it is clear the kid did the hacking.
4. My guess (wild guess, again, big IF here) is that BSA determined that being arrested for multiple felonies is incompatible with scouting and that therefore the scout has to go.

[yknot]

Just now, CynicalScouter said:

Let me say this: IF (and I mean IF) big if, massive, if. IF the young man identified is the one that National sent a letter to, then I can't blame them.

1. The name appeared in local media. From there it could have gone to the District Executive, the Scout Executive, or both.
2. BSA is not a government entity. There's no right to due process here. No one has to be convicted of anything in order to be tossed out of scouting.
3. Arrest warrant means they convinced a judge there was probable cause a crime had been committed. Moreover, even in @PeterLewis' description it is clear the kid did the hacking.
4. My guess (wild guess, again, big IF here) is that BSA determined that being arrested for multiple felonies is incompatible with scouting and that therefore the scout has to go.

That all seems reasonable assuming this precedent has already been set. I have wondered though why Eagle Scouts, juvenile and adult, who have committed illegal or unethical acts, have not had that status stripped by National. This is the first time I've ever heard of BSA tossing out a kid for something other than being the wrong gender or persuasion, or can others recall cases? One aspect of this that bothers me is that the kid sounds like he is of South Asian descent. If BSA doesn't have a history of kicking out kids and then the first one it kicks out is a minority, that is another bad look by BSA. 

However, I realize this is all just noodling around but it's a rainy Sunday morning and I'm somehow back on the site looking for bankruptcy updates ...

[CynicalScouter]

5 minutes ago, yknot said:

have not had that status stripped by National.

I believe the argument has been in the past that there's no provision to remove an award that was already given to someone, regardless of what they have done.

And I know for a fact this is not the first time BSA has removed a scout for something. I can think of at least two scouts in my district removed after drug arrests. The point is that parents and BSA don't advertise and send out press releases "John Smith has been removed from scouting for his drug arrest."

[SSScout]

2 hours ago, TAHAWK said:

THIS MIGHT BE IT:

"CARY, N.C. (AP) — A student has been arrested and charged with hacking into the computer system and changing some grades at Panther Creek High School in Cary.

Multiple media outlets reported that police said the arrest followed a months-long investigation.

The student from Morrisville has been charged with felony accessing government computers, felony breaking and entering, and misdemeanor accessing government computers.

If convicted on all the charges, the student could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.

School administrators noticed a problem with their computer system in October.

The investigation determined that grades had been changed for a number of senior students, including his own.

School officials have said they will restore proper class ranking and notify colleges of the proper grades."

SOURCE ABC

 

"LOCAL NEWS

"Student charged in Panther Creek High hacking

Posted February 3, 2016 10:07 a.m. EST Updated February 3, 2016 6:28 p.m. EST

CARY, N.C. — A Panther Creek High School student was arrested Wednesday in connection with a hack of the school's computer system last fall, police said.

Saivamsi Hanumanthu, 17, of  Pilot Hill Drive in Morrisville, was charged with felony accessing government computers, felony breaking and entering and misdemeanor accessing government computers. He was released on a unsecured $15,000 bond to the custody of his parents.

Cary police began investigating unauthorized access to Panther Creek High's computers on Oct. 13 and later determined that the system had been hacked into several times and that student grades had been changed.

Wake County school officials discovered that an email sent from one Panther Creek High teacher to another a few days before the initial hacking contained keystroke-tracking malware, according to a search warrant in the case.

The affidavit police submitted to obtain the warrant to search Hanumanthu's home stated that he had been seen sneaking into the school office after school on Oct. 22 and was later confronted by a teacher in a locked classroom with what appeared to be a laptop computer.

Two weeks before that, according to the affidavit, the PowerSchool system, a state database that tracks student attendance and grades at the school, was hacked into on three separate occasions, and the grades and class ranks of six students were changed. A total of 90 grades were changed in the system, and half of them belonged to Hanumanthu, a senior who saw his class rank improve from 67th to seventh, the warrant states."

 

SOURCE: WRAL.COM

 

Perhaps   :Peter Lewis" can tell us more. 

2016  ? ? ? ?  Peter Lewis?  

[qwazse]

Yep, @yknot, this is pretty routine.

A scout is trustworthy. A person who betrays trusts is not a scout. Usually this is a troop committee decision, but when the matter is of public trust the dismissal can just as easily come from Council or National. It is not a fun day when an exec calls you about a member in your unit.

[Oldscout448]

This was nearly five and a half years ago if the byline date is accurate.

[qwazse]

2 hours ago, Oldscout448 said:

This was nearly five and a half years ago if the byline date is accurate.

@Oldscout, the story that TAHAWK found may not have anything to do with the OP. It's not clear how personal this case is to the OP. So "recently" could be 5 years ago, or not. Regardless, the bottom line is that stuff like this gets out, and action is usually taken at some level. I think most of us prefer it be handled at the unit level, but sometimes units don't react. Or, they don't communicate their actions to their district or council. In that case,  councils will respond.

[fred8033]

9 hours ago, yknot said:

... This is the first time I've ever heard of BSA tossing out a kid for something other than being the wrong gender or persuasion, or can others recall cases? ...

We can deal with the individual without inferring BSA's challenges with societal change.  

Arrests, charges, crimes, etc ...   Yeah, this is absolutely a path that will get you removed by BSA.  We can debate this incident, but this should not be surprising.  I'm betting the council does not want someone facing a felony jail time to be sitting in an Eagle Court of Honor.  Best way to avoid arguments about requirements and having earned Eagle is to remove the scout. 

SADLY !!!!   ... In this case, it could well be warranted. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by fred8033

[TAHAWK]

11 hours ago, SSScout said:

2016  ? ? ? ?  Peter Lewis?  

"Peter Lewis,"" as in the OP, SSS.  He seems to have insights not mentioned in any news report that I can find.  Maybe he just has superior Googlefu.