Missouri prosecutor won't charge reporter Gov.Parson called 'criminal,' 'hacker'

Citing significant resources and taxpayer dollars would be necessary to pursue misdemeanor criminal charges, the Cole County Prosecuting Attorney announced Friday he would not file charges against a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter.

Josh Renaud, a developer for the Post-Dispatch, alerted the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in October that its public-facing website’s HTML code included the social security numbers of three teachers, visible to anyone who elected to view it with most internet browsers. Days later, Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson said he alerted the Highway Patrol to begin a criminal investigation of what the governor called a “hack.” Parson stated the situation might cost the state $50 million, something members of his party criticized regarding his knowledge of technology.

The Post-Dispatch discovered through a Sunshine Law request that DESE planned to thank Renaud for notifying them of the weakness before department officials met with the governor’s staff and the narrative changed. Parson continued to state Renaud’s actions were criminal in December and mentioned his 22 years in law enforcement as he stated the newspaper admitted violating several points in state law. Parson used an analogy of a lock securing your home to communicate his interpretation of the law.

“If somebody picked your lock on your house for whatever reason – it’s not a good lock, it’s a cheap lock or whatever problem you might have – they do not have the right to go into your house and take anything that belongs to you,” Parson said. “This is exactly why this statute is in place. And whether it be the media or anyone else, it does not have the right to go get your private information, share that information, and keep that information from you. That’s the facts of the case that’s why this is important to make sure that we don’t allow people to do that.”

Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson said the situation resolved itself.

“There is an argument to be made that there was a violation of law,” Thompson said in a statement on Friday that didn’t mention Renaud or the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by name. “However, upon review of the case file, the issues at the heart of the investigation have been resolved through non-legal means. As such, it is not in the best interest of Cole County citizens to utilize the significant resources and taxpayer dollars that would be necessary to pursue misdemeanor criminal charges in this case. The investigation is now closed and the Cole County Prosecutor’s Office will have no further comment on the matter.”

Renaud posted a long statement on his personal website criticizing Parson for the months of anguish he caused him and his family.

“This decision is a relief,” Renaud wrote. “But it does not repair the harm done to me and my family. My actions were entirely legal and consistent with established journalistic principles. Yet Gov. Mike Parson falsely accused me of being a ‘hacker’ in a televised press conference, in press releases sent to every teacher across the state, and in attack ads aired by his political action committee. He ordered the Highway Patrol to begin a criminal investigation, forcing me to keep silent for four anxious months. This was a political persecution of a journalist, plain and simple.”

A statement by the governor’s communications director on Friday continued to use the word “hacking” regarding the situation.

“The hacking of Missouri teachers’ personally identifiable information is a clear violation of Section 569.095, RSMo, which the state takes seriously,” wrote Kelli Jones, the governor’s communications director. “The state did its part by investigating and presenting its findings to the Cole County Prosecutor, who has elected not to press charges, as is his prerogative. The prosecutor believes the matter has been properly addressed and resolved through non-legal means.”

Locke thanked the governor for forwarding his concerns about the DESE data vulnerability and thanked the Highway Patrol for conducting “a thorough and complete investigation into these claims.”