Ientity theft on Facebook

Dana Thornton was indicted last year on a charge of fourth-degree ID theft, a crime punishable by a maximum 18-month jail term on conviction.

Helper Prosecutor Robert Schwartz asserted she made the Facebook page using pictures and private info regarding her ex-boyfriend, a police investigator in northerly New Jersey, and posted comments alleged to be from him. According to grand jury affidavit recited in court Wed. , among the comments posted on the page were the ex-boyfriend, a drugs investigator, was "high all of the time," had herpes and frequented prostitutes and escort services. "I'm a sick piece of scum with a gun," Thornton purportedly wrote. In question is a New Jersey law that makes it illegal to pretend to be somebody "for the object of getting a benefit for himself or another or to hurt or scam another." solicitor Richard Roberts, representing Thornton, tried to have the case discharged on the grounds the law makes no mention of electronic communications. New Jersey's lawmaking council is reviewing a change that would add that provision to the law ; Roberts disagreed Wed. the simple fact the law might be amended amounts to an implicit admission the current one does not cover his client's claimed actions. "How do you estimate the harm?" he asked. "There was no cash concerned. We reside in real life where words are thrown around all of the time. How does that rise to the level of what's in this statute?" State Superior Court Judge David Ironson disagreed and declared the law was "clear and unambiguous." "The fact the method of committing the crime aren't set out in the statute does not lead straight to the decision that the suspect did not commit the crime," he announced.

Thornton did not comment on the choice after the hearing. She's next due in court for a pretrial meeting on Dec.

Seven. The issue of internet impersonation and cyber-bullying came to the cutting edge after a 13-year-old girl committed suicide in a St. Louis suburb in 2006. It was later made public she had been singled out online by a fictitious 13-year-old boy whose MySpace page had been made by the mum of a teen girl. Prosecutors said Lori Drew tried to embarrass the 13-year-old as she suspected the girl had spread rumours about Drew's teen girl.