A Holbrook teenager has been accused of recently posting student records illegally downloaded from the Sachem school district’s computer system to a local Internet message board.
Suffolk County police arrested Matthew Calicchio last week. He pleaded not guilty Saturday to a charge of computer trespass.
“This egregious violation of the personal privacy of certain students is of grave concern to us,” James Nolan, superintendent of the school district, said in a statement. “The recent news leaves us with very mixed emotions.”
Police said the 17-year-old, who was a Sachem North student at the beginning of the 2013-14 school year, posted information from the Sachem school district’s records to www.1Apps.com and www.Sachemunspun.com.
The district alerted authorities when they discovered the illegal download. Nolan said the FBI is also involved in the investigation and New York State Attorney General has been notified.
“The district …is in the process of making direct notifications to any individual who it knows or reasonably believes was subjected to this breach of security and exposure of private information,” Nolan added.
He said a district analysis found that its data systems were not breached from the outside.
Posted to the message board earlier this month were a list of 15,000 names and student IDs of students from the early 2000s as well as another list of 12,000 names and student ID numbers that included 900 students not included in the first list.
It also included records of 360 students who graduated from Sachem High School East in 2008 and a report regarding 130 students who attended Sachem High School North who were receiving instructional services in an alternative setting in the 2010-2011 school year, the district said.
Calicchio was released without bail and is due back in court Dec. 9.
Computer Crimes detectives are continuing the investigation and ask anyone with knowledge of this incident to contact them at 631-852-6572.
