TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Category: Social Media Crime

  • Innocent family harassed

    Hundreds Of Callers Harass Wrong Family In Videotaped Beating Case:

    Here are two lessons for you. The first is don’t fall into the mentality of the mob. The second is don’t believe everything you see on the internet.

    The phone number that was supposed to belong to the family of Zachary Ashley that was posted on YouTube actually belonged to a different family. So 300 of you made harassing phone calls to a family that had nothing to do with the beating of Victoria Lindsay.

    So stop thinking that you’re some badass vigilante or something because you’re not. You’re nothing more than a vandal who can’t think for yourself.

  • Sheriff wants beating teens tried as adults

    Teens In Taped Beating Could Be Charged As Adults:

    Speaking of Sheriff Grady Judd he wants all 8 suspects in the beating of Victoria Lindsay tried as adults.

    Whether or not that actually happens I guess we won’t hear about it since a gag order has been issued.

  • Gag order issued in beating case

    Gag Order Issued In Videotaped Beating Case:

    The lawyer representing look out Zachary Ashley has requested and received a gag order in the recorded beating of Victoria Lindsay.

    Ashley’s lawyer, the esteemed James “Rusty” Franklin, requested the order after Sheriff Grady Judd made inflammatory statements to the media. Judd called the suspects animals. I guess technically the truth can be inflammatory. And you know if your lawyer has a “nickname” you may want to consider better counsel.

  • Beating suspect’s mother responds

    Questions Remain About Beating:

    It seems that the now infamous taped beating of Victoria Lindsay may have been retaliation for MySpace drama.

    Let’s hear from one of the suspects’ mothers defending her precious little snowflake.

    According to the mother of one of the suspects, the victim of the beating, Victoria Lindsay of Lakeland, posted numerous MySpace bulletins, or public messages, insulting the girls. Lindsay called them names and claimed the girls wouldn’t fight her because they were too scared, said Christina Garcia, mother of Mercades Nichols.

    That’s still no reason for a 6 on one beating with two lookouts. Ms. Garcia, where were you when all this was happening?

    And for good measure let’s throw in Mercades’ MySpace. Stay classy.

  • Teen pleads guilty to Chicago rape

    Guilty Plea In Assault Of Teen Met Through MySpace:

    I’ve posted about Angel Alverio and Tony Pacheco before here and here.

    Back in 2006, they were arrested in the rape of a 14-year-old girl they met over MySpace. It’s alleged that those two and an underage cohort of theirs got this girl drunk to the point where they raped her.

    His sentencing will be in late May.

    No word yet on Alveiro and Pacheco themselves.

  • 8 arrested in taped beating

    Girls Record Brutal Attack On Teen To Allegedly Post On YouTube:

    Proving once again that a lot of teens are idiots comes this story from Polk County, Florida.

    16-year-old Victoria Lindsay was lured to a ‘friend’s’ house where six other girls were lying in wait. When she got there she was attacked by most of the girls while someone recorded the beating so they could post it to MySpace and YouTube in order to embarrass her. Two male suspects kept watch while the beating was taking place.

    The 16-year-old suffered a concussion, eye injuries and several bruises.

    The suspects were identified as 17-year-old Mercades Nichols, 17-year-old Brittini Hardcastle, 14-year-old April Cooper, 16-year-old Cara Murphy, 17-year-old Britney Mayes and 15-year-old Kayla Hassell. Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18, were identified by deputies as the lookouts.

    And of course one of the ‘parents’ has to play the ‘not my kid’ card.

    “They weren’t really involved, I don’t know. I’m just overwhelmed by all of it. I don’t know why the girls have them involved,” said Debbie Shumaker, Stephen’s mother.

    No, they actually were involved, That’s what’s called being an accessory and I’m not talking about fashion.

    All suspects face charges for false imprisonment and battery. Three of them were charged with kidnapping because, the sheriff’s office said, they forced Lindsay into a car and drove her to another location after the beating.

    No word yet if they’ll be charged as adults but they should be.

    Thanks to my lovely and talented wife Jade for the tip.

  • Teen testifies against Lori Drew

    Woman Testifies Against Lori Drew in MySpace Hoax Case:

    19-year-old Ashley Grills is the girl who actually created the fake MySpace profile of ‘Josh Evans’ that led to the suicide of Megan Meier. She’s been granted immunity by the California grand jury in exchange for her testimony against Lori Drew, the 47-year-old woman believed to be behind the whole nefarious plot against Megan Meier.

    Grills admitted for the first time publicly that she created the profile of Josh Evans, and she told Roberts that she wrote the cruel words, “the world would be a better place without you,” that may have pushed Meier over the edge.

    Grills said that she was trying to end the “relationship” because she felt that the joke had gone too far.

    “I was trying to get her angry so she would leave him alone and I could get rid of the whole MySpace,” Grills said.

    Or you could have apologized to Megan and told her the truth.

    Anyway, it sounds like Lori Drew wanted to take it even further…

    “She was wanting to meet him and me and … me and Lori’s daughter were both telling Lori that we thought it was going too far ’cause none of us can meet her, none of us are guys,” Grills said.

    “And she [Lori Drew] was like, it’s fine, you know, we can set her up. We can have her go meet him at the mall and go there and just laugh at her, and I thought that was wrong,” Grills continued.

    Lori is 47. Megan Meier was 13. I think it goes without saying that this is not the behavior of an adult.

    With any luck, the grand jury will hopefully start the process to bring justice for Megan Meier.

  • $30M MySpace lawsuit not dead yet

    Family seeks revival of MySpace suit over alleged sex assault:

    The Texas family that had tried to sue MySpace over their daughter’s sexual assault are trying to get the suit revived.

    The victim, only known as Julie Doe was 14 when she was sexually assaulted by then 19-year-old Pete Solis. Solis had met his victim over MySpace. He’s now in prison for the sexual assault.

    However, the family of Julie Doe sued MySpace for 30 million dollars. The lawsuit was summarily dismissed. Now the family is asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to overturn the dismissal.

    As much as I sympathize with the family for what their daughter went through I just have to reiterate that MySpace is not at fault and this comes off as just a grab for money.

  • Pedophile fire captain turned in by own daughter

    Sort of…

    Former South Jordan fire captain charged in child porn case:

    45-year-old Michael Farnsworth of Riverton, Utah is under arrest on child pornography charges. He used to be a fire captain in the South Jordan Fire Department.

    It all started when his daughter found a fake MySpace profile he was using that said he was 21-years-old. The daughter told Mrs. Farnsworth who confronted him about it. He claimed that was the profile he used to monitor his daughter’s activity on MySpace. I don’t know how he explained why all his MySpace friends were underage girls.

    A co-worker of Mrs. Farnsworth tipped off police. I wonder how the coworker was tipped off. Anyway, police did a forensic search of Farnsworth’s computers and found a cache of child porn. But not just any child porn…

    A forensic analysis of Farnsworth’s computer hard drives revealed several child pornography photos, including two listed on the nationwide Child Victim Identification Program.

    You can’t much lower than that.

  • WV sex offender on MySpace

    Sex Offender Fails to Register MySpace Page:

    Marvin Davis of Weston, West Virginia has been charged with being a convicted sex offender and having a MySpace. It seems that Davis did some time for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old in 1996.

    He’s also been charged with not registering his e-mail address.

    Sex offenders have to let police know when they make any changes including addresses, phone lines, and vehicles.

    If they don’t register the change within 10 days then they’ll face charges.

    It’s not know if he contacted any minors through his MySpace.