Looks like they’ve found Amanda Todd’s tormentor:
Here’s the story, from MSN.ca:
The tragic story of B.C. teen suicide victim Amanda Todd has taken another bizarre twist as the internet hacking and activist group Anonymous has named a man the group says was the girl’s primary tormentor.
Todd, 15, of Port Coquitlam, died last Wednesday, a month after posting a haunting video on YouTube that cited the sexualized attack that set her down a path of anxiety, depression and drug and alcohol abuse.
During her nine-minute video, the teen explains in hand-written notes that she was in Grade 7 when she was lured by an unidentified male to expose her breasts via webcam.
She says that a year later she received a message from a man on Facebook threatening that if she didn’t give him a show, he would send the webcam picture to her friends and family. She says police later told her the man followed through with his threat.
Anonymous published the name and address of a Vancouver-area man that the group claims was bullying and preying on Todd via the internet.
The activist group, which often uses a caricature Guy Fawkes mask as its logo, claims the 32-year-old man has also made postings to child pornography sites.
So, he’s a kiddie pornographer. Big surprise there! Looks like he can join Michael Fucking Brutsch in ostracism and public contempt now. Let’s hope the justice system catches up to these guys soon, too. I have zero sympathy for either of them. Maybe, if more of these perverts were outed on the internet, instead of thriving in obscurity, cowardice and the abuse of anonymity, there’d be fewer teen suicides out there, and less misogyny, too. A girl can only hope…
PS: Looks like this is picking up steam. Vice is right on it, with a crackerjack story and a set of damning screenshots (we can haz more zoomage, pls?), while Jezebel’s analysis is also worth a read:
In light of Gawker’s exposure of notorious troll Violentacrez, and Katie’s article about CreepShot-posting creeps being called out, it feels like there’s steady momentum in the direction of increased intolerance of this specific brand of internet bullshit.
Maybe taking away the anonymity of these people won’t completely solve the problem, but perhaps it’ll slow things down, allowing would-be harassers to think twice. It likely won’t stop the real psychopaths, those hell-bent on being creeps, but it’ll probably encourage people who aren’t 100 percent devoted to being gross to put the brakes on. Plus, there is so much power in peers telling peers: “Hey, what you’re doing isn’t cool, so knock it the fuck off.” I’m guessing that’s our most effective weapon in bully culture, the ability of everyone on the sidelines to say, “Shut it down, weirdo!” Threatening to expose their asses is the internet equivalent of a badge of shame, but perhaps worse; trite as it is, you can’t take the internet off at the end of the day. Your name will always be out there, forever branded. Don’t believe me? Just Google “Michael Brutsch.”
Something tells me that Internet perverts and trolls are about to become as popular as Jerry Sandusky, and soon. Too late to help Amanda, sadly. But at least it is starting to look like she did not die in vain. I hope it brings her family some badly needed comfort to know that caring strangers are behind them, working to bring these cretins to justice…one way or another.
PPS: Here is a Pastebin link full of damning evidence indicating Kody Maxson as a likely suspect.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Province reports (without naming Maxson):
On Monday night, a man who answered the door at the address listed by Anonymous said he doesn’t know anything about the online claims and doesn’t know the man the group identified.
“I’ve already been through this with the police,” he told The Province before shutting the door.
Neighbours said three single men live in the house. There are occasional loud parties, said one neighbour.
A man with a similar name was in Surrey provincial court earlier Monday on charges of sexual assault and sexual interference of a person under age 16 stemming from a separate incident in Surrey on Aug. 1.
The man told CTV News he was unfairly targeted by Anonymous. He said he was friends with Todd online, but did not bully her.
I call bullshit on what he says, for obvious reasons. What 32-year-old man is “friends” with a 15-year-old girl and doesn’t try to take advantage of her, or the unequal power dynamic of the whole situation? Any decent guy would not go seeking out girls that age at all. And remember, Amanda’s heartbreaking video said very specifically, “I have nobody. I need someone”. If this guy was actually her friend, wouldn’t he have helped her? If she had any friends left, she would not have killed herself. A very cynical attempt to cover his ass, that is.
And it stinks to high heaven.
PPPS: More interesting stuff, this contradicting the above. Vancouver 24 Hours reports:
A man with a similar name as the one published by Anonymous appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Tuesday on a charge each of sexual assault and sexual interference of a person under 16.
But there are several differences, such as a different age and name spelling. The man named by Anonymous is 32-years-old, while the man in court is 19. The former appears to use a shortened version of the latter’s name, though both share the same last name.
According to CTV, the 19-year-old knew Todd, but had already talked to police.
Not sure what to make of this.* But the same article also contains the following, rather reassuring news:
Apart from responding to speculation about the identified man, Mounties said investigators were distracted “for hours” dealing with a more disturbing rumour of the “supposed release of Amanda Todd’s autopsy photos.”
In a statement Tuesday, RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said the allegation against the man was “unfounded” and no autopsy photos were ever leaked.
So no, Amanda is NOT on the odious “picsofdeadjailbait” forum at Reddit, the Anus of the Internet. Thank heaven for small mercies.
Meanwhile, the mother of the accused is now pointing the finger herself at the “lynch mob” that outed him. Guess she hasn’t seen all of what Anonymous has dug up and Vice has published.
But even if her son proves guilty as hell, I hope she and his family are NOT targeted for abuse, as they don’t deserve to be singled out. As always, it is the perpetrator alone who must bear responsibility for his own actions. (Unless, of course, he is the product of a bad upbringing, in which case all bets are off.)
And on that note, I’m signing off on this entry. Peace.
*According to the Toronto Star, he is indeed in his thirties, and NOT 19 as has been erroneously reported.
