Felony charges may be filed this week against a Daphne High School computer maven who shut down servers, deleted files and other data affecting 47 school districts in six states.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Tony Nolfe said Monday the 16-year-old accessed the first layer of software provided by a vendor who has contracts with the affected systems.

The student deleted tables and demographic files, but may not have viewed them, Nolfe said.

The student has been expelled and Nolfe said the student will be charged with offenses against intellectual property, a Class B felony.

The juvenile was not identified due to his age and authorities declined to respond to questions about any other offenses on record.

Nolfe said the case will probably remain in the juvenile justice system. He said juveniles charged as adults are predominantly involved in violent crimes.

“This started as an intellectual challenge and we think he did it on his own to impress his friends,” Nolfe said Monday. “Why he turned toward malicious acts, we don’t know.”

The student used a Daphne High School computer and a computer at his residence for hacking purposes, Nolfe said. Both computers currently are being analyzed by forensic experts in Montgomery, while authorities continue a local investigation.

On March 30, the software provider notified the Baldwin County Board of Education that there was a breech in the system, authorities said. The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department, FBI, Secret Service and Daphne Police Department are involved in the investigation.

On several occasions, the student “pinged” the server used by the Baldwin County School System, but firewalls prevented access, according to Terry Wilhite, a school system spokesperson.

“We are proud of the firewalls and they are examined daily,” Wilhite said. “He could not penetrate them to access any data. No grades were changed or modified.”

Wilhite said a few weeks ago the school system stopped allowing students to access their grades from school “because of the potential that existed.” Grades remain available from any off-campus computer.

“This may seem like fun and games, but it’s a different note when lawmen show up on your doorstep,” Wilhite said. “We take this very seriously.”