A man from Halifax, Nova Scotia has been found "factually innocent" after 18 months in prison after it was determined that someone had misread his Skyrim-inspired username during an investigation.
In February 2020, Canada police arrested Halifax resident Brandon Klayme on charges that included possession of child pornography and child luring. In April 2023, he was found guilty in court and, in January 2024, sentenced to 18 months in prison, with an 18-month probation period to follow. This month, not long after his release, an appeal court ruled that Klayme is innocent, and it turns out he was only caught up in this whole mess because, during an investigation found inadequate, somebody misread a single underscore in his Skyrim-inspired username on the messaging app Kik: "fus_ro_dah."
A CBC report (thanks, Polygon) notes that the actual suspect in the case, accused of exchanging sexually explicit messages with a 12-year-old child, was operating under the username "fus__ro_dah," with two underscores.
In the appeal (thanks, Gizmodo), Klayme writes in his affidavit, "In the latter stages of preparing my appeal arguments, it was discovered that the subpoena contained a subtle mistake that changed the course of my life."
"The police officer did not notice that the perpetrator's Kik username 'fus__ro_dah' contains a double underscore," Klayme continues. "This discrepancy went completely unnoticed at the trial. It was never brought to the attention of the trial judge."
The appeal background notes, "The Wisconsin police identified Mr. Klayme as the offender using an incorrect username. His conviction rested on the internet username being attributed to him."
The appeal also reiterates that a search of the bedroom believed to have been used by Klayme in his parents' house found "no evidence" linking him to the conversations or images in question, "nor was there evidence found of any Kik account activity by Mr. Klayme during the time frame of the offences."
To really hammer home the point, the appeals court suggests "the correct username likely would have led [sic] identified someone in California" – someone thousands of miles away who has seemingly roamed free, or at least free of this specific charge, throughout this six-year process.
"Mr. Klayme should not have been convicted of these offences," the decision concludes. "This is not a situation where an acquittal is entered because the Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of an offence or an error during the trial made the verdict unsafe. In these circumstances, Mr. Klayme is factually innocent of the offences. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted."
