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Conn. Facebook vigilantes cause suicide of suspected predator

January 7, 2019 — Leave a comment

Facebook vigilantes take to the streets of Bristol, Connecticut

It seems the Facebook vigilantes have graduated from Facebook itself to being vigilantes in meatspace. Previously these keyboard commandos would accuse people of various offenses online with little to no proof. Actions like this have not only ruined people’s lives but have caused others to take their own lives.  Now, some of these groups are taking to the streets.

NBC News recently published an article online about a twig of a man from Bristol, Connecticut who calls himself ‘Incognito’ who runs a vigilante group called POPSquad. They’re a combination of Perverted Justice and a YouTube version of To Catch a Predator. They basically entrap people into meeting them under the guise that their targets are on their way to meeting an underage child for sex. They then video the encounter and post it to the internet. One of their more recent targets took his own life after being confronted by the ‘twigilantes’. This suicide makes them judge, jury, and executioner.

twigilante

Incognito. (Seriously, who is afraid of this twig boy?)

While I’m no fan of sexual predators I’m also not a fan of mob rule. Not only do you not have the right to take the law into your own hands, but you’re also playing with fire. One day you’re going to mess with the wrong guy and end up receiving an ass beating at best or a toe tag at worst. Why the police haven’t arrested these assclown wannabe Batmen is beyond me.

Let the police do their job. Instead of trying to feel like a big man by basically entrapping people why don’t you instead teach parents the dangers of social media. And you say that…

“There’s two types of people who don’t like POPSquad: We either caught you or you know somebody that we caught.”

Well, I’m neither. I’m someone who respects the rule of law and doesn’t appreciate your untrained and amateurish brand of justice that will end up doing more harm than good.

Facebook hammer killer resentenced

December 26, 2018 — Leave a comment
Facebook hammer killer resentenced

Tyler Hadley

In 2011, a then 17-year-old Tyler Hadley of Port St. Lucie, Florida, killed both of his parents with a claw hammer before dragging their bodies to their bedroom. While the bodies of  Mary Jo and Blake Hadley remained in the bedroom, Tyler Hadley threw a party for all of his Facebook friends. He even showed one of his friends the corpses of his murdered parents.

While in prison he gave out autographs to other prisoners signed ‘Hammer Time’ Hadley was charged as an adult and pleaded no contest to their murders. Subsequently, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. However, his sentence was thrown out after the Supreme Court ruled that minors couldn’t be sentenced to mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Last week a new sentence was handed down for Hadley and it was a lesser sentence, however, it may be unlikely Hadley would ever be a free man. The sentence he received this time was two concurrent life sentences.

The judge presiding over the sentencing had this to say…

“The defendant displayed perverse premeditation, heartless cruelty and savagery, extreme violence, a willingness to mutilate and absolute depravity,” the judge declared. “Considering the victims were blood relatives and were killed up close and personally with a handheld tool, it’s obvious the defendant was fueled by a long, simmering, passionate hatred toward those who loved him the most.”

I’m satisfied that Hadley received two life sentences although I would have preferred them to be served consecutively again. It was also good to see a maniac like this put away for life despite the best efforts of the Supreme Court. Personally, I have no problem with minors being sentenced to LWOP for certain offenses like premeditated murder. If a teenager doesn’t understand that murder is not only illegal but inherently wrong then they’re too stupid to be among the rest of us anyway.

Facebook vigilantes strike again: Accuse KS man of sex trafficking

October 28, 2018 — Leave a comment

Facebook vigilantes strike again: Accuse KS man of sex trafficking

Once again, the idiots of Facebook worked collectively to try to ruin a man’s life just by resharing a post that had absolutely no evidence or truth behind it. A man in Liberal, Kansas, which I understand is not very liberal, was accused of sex trafficking in a Facebook post that took off like wildfire. Facebook removed the post but whoever had it out for this guy took it to the other place where crazy people will believe any bullshit they see, craigslist. Craigslist removed the post after being contacted by local news. Local police say there is no evidence of the man in question being involved in any actual trafficking.

Even though the post was removed, there are still going to people in his area who not only believed the post but will continue to spread the unfounded accusation all throughout town. This man may have to keep defending his reputation in the real world for years to come because of the ever-present Facebook lynch mob that always seems to be looking for reputations to be fed into its cavernous maw. Again, these type of baseless accusations can be incredibly devastating to the people falsely accused and have caused at least one man to take his own life.

If you see people doing this on Facebook, don’t be afraid to call them out. Or send them to me, as I have a history of calling people dumbasses on Facebook.

Suspect accused of beating girl and shaving her bald for being on Snapchat

December 11, 2017 — Leave a comment
Suspect accused of beating girl and shaving her bald for being on Snapchat

Alex Harrison

You know, I’m not a big fan of Facebook. I’m tired of all the political arguing, the overt racism, and overall ignorance of a ton of people on it. However, it has been known to expose child abusers in our midst as many of them are stupid enough to post their abuse on Facebook thinking it’s normal behavior.

For example, take 33-year-old Alex J. Harrison of Ferriday, Louisiana. He’s accused of allegedly beating a 14 or 15-year-old girl and then shaving her head bald, all because she installed Snapchat on her phone. Harrison is then said to have posted a video of the abuse on Facebook for the world to see.

At the beginning of the footage, he said: ‘She wanna be grown, she getting her a** whooped n her hair bald. School is for work not f****** Snapchat. She ain’t got no business with no damn snap anyway. Stay tuned.’

He then reportedly whipped the girl with a belt around 50 times while verbally abusing her. After which he sat her down in a chair and shaved her head bald.

‘This is what it means to be grown,’ he said.

This isn’t discipline. This is outright child abuse. This is what they do in prison camps under totalitarian regimes. You know what else being grown means? Being able to have a rational discussion with your child about social media without resorting to something out of V for Vendetta. I totally understand not wanting to have your kid on something like Snapchat. That’s your prerogative, but instead of violently whipping a girl who can’t defend herself, how about being a real man and handling it in such a way that doesn’t result in child abuse, bloodshed, and worldwide humiliation. This isn’t even taking into account that this fool is a damn hypocrite for posting a video on Facebook that I’m sure is a thousand times worse than anything the girl posted on Snapchat.

Facebook states that if you see a child being abused on Facebook to call police and report the video or photos to them.

Here’s a good article from the University of Texas on how to talk to your kids about social media.

(Sources)
Daily Mail
Natchez Democrat

Social media crime blotter 12/10/2017

December 10, 2017 — Leave a comment

Social media crime blotter

Local parent says he discovered teens using Snapchat to buy and sell drugs:
(Bixby, Oklahoma)

Man sentenced for enticing children through app:
40-year-old Aaron Anthony of Idaho Falls sentenced to 2-10 for trying to solicit underage girls through Kik.

A pricey mistake: How to avoid accidental in-app purchases:
Parent lets kid run wild unsupervised on Musical.ly and ends up with a $1000 bill for in-app purchases.

New Jersey man charged with solicitation of a minor:
36-year-old Julio DeJesus of Jersey City, NJ, was arrested for allegedly having explicit conversations with a 15-year-old girl from Tallahassee, Florida, on Facebook, Kik, and Instagram.

Orland Park Man Accused of Selling Pot on Snapchat:
Illinois. Even where it’s legal, it’s still illegal to sell it online.

Facebook launching messaging app for kids under 12

December 5, 2017 — Leave a comment

Facebook launching messaging app for kids under 12

Social media monolith Facebook recently announced it was launching a messaging app for kids 12 and under called Messenger Kids. Automatically to me that sounds like an extremely bad idea, however, Facebook says that there are safety measures in place for kids to use their new app.

Parents must set up a child’s Messenger Kids account and approve with whom they can communicate (parents must be friends on Facebook to do so). Kids will not be searchable within the app for privacy reasons.

From a crime perspective this seems like a pretty safe app but still has its drawbacks. Too many parents sign their kids on to an app then let them run free on it, like Musical.ly. While there shouldn’t be the problem of random strangers messaging your child, there’s still the problem of people close to the family who may be trying to groom your child. As the saying goes, kids are more likely to be assaulted by someone they know rather than internet predators.

But let’s discuss what this is really about, Facebook indoctrination. Zuckerberg the Great wants to make sure that kids are raised on Facebook. With so many teens and young adults supposedly flocking to Snapchat from Facebook, they want to make sure future generations will be reliant on Facebook.

If your children really want to talk with grandma over the internet, they can do it with Facetime or Skype while you supervise. Or better yet, call her on the phone.

“If you don’t want any of this to happen…You have 60 minutes starting now.”

September 28, 2017 — Leave a comment
"If you don't want any of this to happen...You have 60 minutes starting now."

Adam Russell Hegyi

30-year-old Adam Russell Hegyi, of Crown Point, Indiana, is facing federal prosecution for allegedly threatening and extorting an underage girl over social media. Hegyi is said to have used (deep breath) Omegle, Kik, Snapchat, Skype, Instagram, Facebook and FaceTime. What, no Friendster?

All kidding aside, Hegyi is one scary dude. After he allegedly coerced the girl into sending explicit photos, he threatened the girl’s family if she did not send more.

“If you don’t want any of this to happen, you need to send more pics without your face in them. You have 60 minutes starting now,” Hegyi said in a March message on Kik.

He is then said to have sent the pictures of the victim to her parents and claimed to have also sent them to students at her school.

That’s only the tip of the iceberg. I urge you read the linked article to see how mentally disturbed this assclown was.

I think it goes without saying, you need to know who your children are talking to on social media. Check all the accounts.

Florida man accused of blackmailing underage Facebook friend into sending nudes

September 9, 2017 — Leave a comment
Florida man accused of blackmailing underage Facebook friend into sending nudes

Robert Lufriu

26-year-old Robert Lufriu, of Hillsborough County, Florida, was arrested for allegedly soliciting nude photos from a 17-year-old female Facebook friend. Lufriu reportedly asked the girl for a picture after she confided a secret to him. He is said to have threatened to tell her parents if she didn’t send him a nude photo. He then is said to have offered the girl $50, alcohol and to take her shopping if she would provide him with more photos.

What a creep and a scumbag. This guy allegedly blackmailed his victim and basically treated her like a prostitute in order to get her to produce what is basically child porn for him. Not only that, but he seems to be at least a friend of the victim’s family. So he possibly betrayed the trust of a family just so he could treat the victim like his own personal porn factory. He even allegedly admitted to the girl’s parents that he asked her for photos.

Not only do you have to worry about strangers approaching your kids online, but in some cases, trusted friends as well. As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer because you never know when your friend is actually your child’s enemy.

Does posting a child’s hand while asking for a refrigerator mean the child is being trafficked?

July 2, 2017 — Leave a comment

Tonight, my editor and proofreader, Lady Gray, sent me the following from Facebook…

In case you can’t read it, the post says…

I learned something today… if you ever see a picture like this, report it to authorities. It is a human trafficking tactic. Here’s the tactic. Posting a picture of a child’s body part like their hand, on a buy sell trade site, asking for something to buy or sell, is the tactic. I’m being for real. This isn’t something I just shared. Someone shared this picture as a joke wondering why they had that picture when they need a refrigerator and someone that has been through a lot of training on the subject informed us what it means.

I don’t claim to be the world’s leading expert on online human trafficking, but I have been writing about it for the past 11 years. This is the first I’ve ever heard of such tactic. I checked sites like Snopes and Hoax Slayer, and I couldn’t find anything about this on their sites. I did a reverse image search on the picture, but nothing came up. So, I can’t say one way or another if this is true or not.

However, and this is just my opinion, it sounds like an urban legend to me. It reminds me too much of urban legends such as “Don’t flash your high beams at night or gangs will kill you”, or “My friend woke up in a bathtub full of ice and his kidneys were gone”.

Human traffickers have a lot of tricks up their sleeves, and sadly, they often don’t have to be this obtuse to sell children.

Flight attendant charged with Phoenix Facebook rape of teen

June 6, 2017 — Leave a comment
Flight attendant charged with Phoenix Facebook rape of teen

Joshua James Kuhn

(Story broke 6/6/2017)

Eraserhead Chandler Bing up there is 24-year-old flight attendant Joshua James Kuhn. He is accused of allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl while wielding a machete. The victim went to the Phoenix apartment where Kuhn was after meeting another person on Facebook and agreeing to a date. Kuhn and two other men were also there. The victim tried to defend herself against Kuhn with a knife but Kuhn was able to disarm her. Kuhn is reportedly claiming that the sex was consensual and that ‘she said she was 18’, which is the age of consent in Arizona.

No matter how well your kids think they can defend themselves, nothing is ever absolute, and rarely do situations like that go as planned. Even at the tail end of their teenage years, kids still need to be reminded that not everyone they meet online is necessarily their friend no matter how nice they may seem, and scenarios like this should be avoided.