Dad impersonating child on internet

[EMT2007]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN

Some of you know my situation, it's a long confusing one. Besides the website my ex has opened to malign my family and I, it was brought to my attention by a friend that he has now opened a facebook account and myspace account in my daughter's name. My friend knows this because he requested her to be "her" friend. Not exactly sure what this will accomplish for him, but his stalking case against my family is coming up Thursday along with several other cases down the road (unrelated drug charges).

He is writing on "her" pages things to the affect of "My mother kidnapped me, her name is ******* she is a nurse and a f*cking B*tch, my grandmother's name is *******, I'm looking for my dad - his phone number is ********" Can he legally do this? My daughter is 8. I monitor her on the internet which she BARELY uses ever. But there are kids her age that actually do have full internet access and I feel that if they search for her this is going to be a complete embarrasment for her.


We have called the prosectuing attorney hoping she would return our call before the trial but haven't heard anything. I know if I report it to facebook or myspace, they may delete the pages but he will just open more. The company that hosts the website he runs said they would take it down with a court order. Is it likely the judge will rule for him to remove these things? Again, he knows where I live etc, but refuses to make anything legal because I know he does not want to pay child support. He opened up an account on another legal forum and in the profile it says "Frustrated father wanting revenge on that b*tch, don't give a sh*t about the kid." (He never made any posts on the forum, I found it by googling his email address).

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN

Some of you know my situation, it's a long confusing one. Besides the website my ex has opened to malign my family and I, it was brought to my attention by a friend that he has now opened a facebook account and myspace account in my daughter's name. My friend knows this because he requested her to be "her" friend. Not exactly sure what this will accomplish for him, but his stalking case against my family is coming up Thursday along with several other cases down the road (unrelated drug charges).

He is writing on "her" pages things to the affect of "My mother kidnapped me, her name is ******* she is a nurse and a f*cking B*tch, my grandmother's name is *******, I'm looking for my dad - his phone number is ********" Can he legally do this? My daughter is 8. I monitor her on the internet which she BARELY uses ever. But there are kids her age that actually do have full internet access and I feel that if they search for her this is going to be a complete embarrasment for her.


We have called the prosectuing attorney hoping she would return our call before the trial but haven't heard anything. I know if I report it to facebook or myspace, they may delete the pages but he will just open more. The company that hosts the website he runs said they would take it down with a court order. Is it likely the judge will rule for him to remove these things? Again, he knows where I live etc, but refuses to make anything legal because I know he does not want to pay child support. He opened up an account on another legal forum and in the profile it says "Frustrated father wanting revenge on that b*tch, don't give a sh*t about the kid." (He never made any posts on the forum, I found it by googling his email address).

GAWD what an awful thing for him to do! He really is nuts, isn't he?

I would contact facebook and myspace and see if you can get them to take the sites down, since they are in your daughter's name. Yes, he may do it again, but he may very well be going away for a while and won't be able to do that while in prison.

 

[Alex23]

This sounds like cyberbullying to me, more so that just calling someone an idiot online.

 

[dad43]

i have no real replies, but as the child gets older, it brings to mind the case where a woman was charged with a few things, after the 14y/o killed herself over a myspace profile

if you contact myspace, and tell them what is going on, they HAVE to delete the profile...and you MAY be able to ask myspace to block any "new" profiles from being registered from your ex's IP address...i don't know for sure that can be done, but i do imagine that myspace could get repercussions for this...(did i say that right?)

OH, and you can report myspace profiles...i don't remember exactly how, and i do know you have to be a member, but my wife has done it multiple times, when my ex has done something similar to yours(but she makes profiles for my wife, not my child)

 

[quincy]

More than just cyberbullying, it sounds like defamation.

The Terms of Service of both Facebook and MySpace prohibit impersonating another and, when contacted about impersonated pages, they should both remove the offensive pages from their sites. This does not prevent your ex from continuing his online attacks elsewhere, however. Therefore, you may want to consider a defamation action.

I recommend you make a printout of the Facebook and MySpace pages and show them to an attorney for review.

Indiana has had several defamation-through-impersonation lawsuits filed in their courts in recent years, and online impersonation has become a growing problem throughout the country. If you know for a fact that it was your ex who published the material under your daughter's name, and if your ex resides in Indiana as well, pursuing a defamation action against him will be easier.

Indiana also recognizes the tort of invasion of privacy/false light. This may be another legal avenue to explore with an attorney.

Good luck.


Edit to add: In reference to dad43's comment, MySpace and Facebook would not be held legally liable for material published by their online users.

Another edit to add: I have not read your history from your previous posts here, so whether invasion of privacy or defamation are realistic options for you, I don't know. . . .

 

[Banned_Princess]

i have no real replies, but as the child gets older, it brings to mind the case where a woman was charged with a few things, after the 14y/o killed herself over a myspace profile

if you contact myspace, and tell them what is going on, they HAVE to delete the profile...and you MAY be able to ask myspace to block any "new" profiles from being registered from your ex's IP address...i don't know for sure that can be done, but i do imagine that myspace could get repercussions for this...(did i say that right?)

OH, and you can report myspace profiles...i don't remember exactly how, and i do know you have to be a member, but my wife has done it multiple times, when my ex has done something similar to yours(but she makes profiles for my wife, not my child)

I really hate to point this out, but it is not MYSPACE, it is a compleately diffrent social site. FACEBOOK.

 

[mommyof4]

I really hate to point this out, but it is not MYSPACE, it is a compleately diffrent social site. FACEBOOK.

He opened the accounts on BOTH sites.

it was brought to my attention by a friend that he has now opened a facebook account and myspace account in my daughter's name.

 

[EMT2007]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I plan on contacting both social networking sites but I am waiting until after Thursday (when his case will be heard). Just one more thing - Can the judge court order him to remove the website he has and to refrain from opening things in her name in the future? He has also opened email accounts in her name which he uses to harrass me and my family.

 

[dad43]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN
it was brought to my attention by a friend that he has now opened a facebook account and myspace account in my daughter's name.

banned_princess, do you feel better about yourself?

quincy-thank you for letting me know, i keep hearing of lawsuits, but never wether or not they are won, as usually for the most part, they aren't worth hearing about

 

[Alex23]

Just one more thing - Can the judge court order him to remove the website he has and to refrain from opening things in her name in the future?

If you're lucky the judge will ban him from the internets altogether. Remember that hacker who was banned from the internet? (He's an anti-hacker, now). I forget his name.

 

[EMT2007]

If you're lucky the judge will ban him from the internets altogether. Remember that hacker who was banned from the internet? (He's an anti-hacker, now). I forget his name.

LOL that would be great, although I seriously think he has an impulse control disorder and would not be able to keep himself away. He seriously revolves most of his time trying to communicate to my family through the website he opened up - again- in my daughter's name. In fact, he just updated it AGAIN. I hope the judge will take all this into consideration. The last line of what he wrote in his new update says "He is waiting for the day she comes running to him" I'm just so tired of this, I hope something can be done.

Another thought I was having, since I see a very slim chance of him ever taking action after 8 years; say this continues. Would I be able to change her last name for safety issues since he is plastering it along with her age, location etc. all over the internet?

 

[LdiJ]

LOL that would be great, although I seriously think he has an impulse control disorder and would not be able to keep himself away. He seriously revolves most of his time trying to communicate to my family through the website he opened up - again- in my daughter's name. In fact, he just updated it AGAIN. I hope the judge will take all this into consideration. The last line of what he wrote in his new update says "He is waiting for the day she comes running to him" I'm just so tired of this, I hope something can be done.

Another thought I was having, since I see a very slim chance of him ever taking action after 8 years; say this continues. Would I be able to change her last name for safety issues since he is plastering it along with her age, location etc. all over the internet?

If you would have to serve him regarding the name change, then that won't do any good, because he would end up knowing her new last name and could do the same thing again.

If he wouldn't have to be served, and wouldn't know that she had a new last name, it could be helpful.

You would have to discuss that with an attorney.

 

[Golfball]

If you're lucky the judge will ban him from the internets altogether. Remember that hacker who was banned from the internet? (He's an anti-hacker, now). I forget his name.

I think that was Kevin Mitnick.

Although I vaguely remember him saying that at least half of hacking is social engineering, rather than fancy computer work.

 

[EMT2007]

Just a little update is anyone cares to read. Spoke with the prosecuting attorney today. She said she was going to ask for a continuance in light of all the new evidence. He's sinking his own ship as she put it. She is going to ask the judge to revoke his bond since he is violating the court order. She said she also wants to look into how he got all the case files with my information in them and she is going to request a court order for the websites to be removed and taken down. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow but I know this will be ongoing for some time.

 

[TheGeekess]

I think that was Kevin Mitnick.

Although I vaguely remember him saying that at least half of hacking is social engineering, rather than fancy computer work.

It is.