A US law enforcement officer made a typo when they noted a username involved in child luring. The incorrect username was traced to a Nova Scotia man, who was charged and found guilty, solely on the basis of the incorrect username.
The guy, Brandon Klayme, ended up spending 18 months in jail due to the typo. The incorrect username was enough to get the guy convicted and jailed.
I’m surprised this hasn’t been a bigger story.
The ars technica coverage does a better job of describing what happened.
Agreed. If you read only one article, read Ars Technica for parsimony. The PostMedia version (main link) is more ragebait-y. It’s a pretty chilling tale of someone being convicted due to a typo made during the investigation when no actual evidence against him was found (before or after the typo was caught)
I’m still left scratching my head here. What a nightmare. A child lurer remained on the loose while an innocent man was in jail convicted of possessing child pornography. Is this case why his lawyer is no longer practising law? Is the judge that sentenced him mortified? It’s such a failure.
Like, how was he even convicted? The only evidence they has was a kik account name. They didn’t have messages, they didn’t have other info on his computer, nothing. Where is proof beyond a reasonable doubt?!
That’s what I find so shocking. There was literally nothing incriminating other than the username.
Very bad case of broken telephone. But really on the whole, the most concerning thing is that there was no real world evidence linking Brandon to the crime yet he was tried, convicted and jailed for 18 months.
Agreed. I’m surprised a judge thought the IP address was enough evidence to convict him.
