MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Two Miami-Dade County high school students are accused of breaking into school district computers and changing grades. But questions are being raised, because only one of them was arrested and expelled from school.
Local 10 News learned the student who was not arrested or expelled has a mother who works in the school district. In fact, she's an assistant principal.
According to police reports obtained by Local 10, Jose Bautista, 18, was arrested May 1 after allegedly changing grades for students at Michael Krop Senior High School.
Bautista was charged with eight felony counts for breaking into the school district's computer system and changing grades. Bautista was also expelled.
But according to an incident report obtained by Local 10, a month and a half before Bautista was busted at Krop, the same thing happened at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School.
Sources say Enzo Cespedes, 16, was the student who admitted to changing grades at Mourning. They also say Cespedes was allowed to simply change schools and there were no criminal charges filed against him.
"Selective prosecution is always a problem," says Antonio Tomas, Bautista's attorney. "When you have people doing the same thing and some are charged and some aren't, that's a cause for concern."
But there is something else that raises an eyebrow.
Local 10 has learned that Cespedes' mother is an assistant principal, right across the street from Mourning High School, at David Lawrence K-8 Center. Cespedes' uncle, Raul Correa, is also a lieutenant with Miami-Dade school police.
A Miami-Dade Schools police spokesman says Correa was not consulted or called regarding his nephew's incident.
"It seems like it's favoritism," says Tomas.
Assistant Principal Blanca Cespedes refused to talk to Weinsier.
Miami-Dade school police investigated both cases.
"I don't believe the mother influenced the outcome, just like they don't in any of our cases," says Miami-Dade Schools Police Department Chief Ian Moffett.
Moffett says police officers have discretion at the scene and no two cases are the same. The police chief added that Cespedes is a juvenile and Bautista is an adult.
Moffett also provided Local 10 with other cases where computers were broken into or hacked by students and arrests were not made.
"Every time someone gets stopped by an officer, not everyone gets a ticket," says Moffett. "It's up to the individual officer and his discretion."
Bautista is out on bond and didn't graduate this year.
Cespedes will be starting his new school next month.