In a bad mood? Want to turn it around with a little cyberbullying? Think again. A Michigan woman is facing charges related to cyberbullying teenage students, including her own daughter, according to authorities. The woman is facing five counts, including, most importantly, stalking a minor.
The woman’s own daughter and her boyfriend reported getting harassing messages to authorities which spurred forth the investigation, which lasted a year. Ultimately, the culprit turned out to be the girl’s own mother.
The mother used VPNs and other methods to hide her identity. At one point, she attempted to obscure her IP address in a manner that would lay the blame on classmates of her daughter. The woman was also working as a basketball coach at the time. Law enforcement says that the VPN exposed the defendant’s IP address for a fraction of a second before connecting. Indeed, you must connect your VPN prior to going onto the internet. If you do it after connecting, you will expose your actual IP while the VPN is unconnected or if it goes out. VPNs are not foolproof. A network interruption could expose your IP. Alternatively, not all VPNs are created equally. In this case, the woman’s IP was exposed.
It remains unclear why any of this happened.
Social Media is Generally Bad
After a decade or so of living with social media, the verdict is in, and it is mostly bad. It will not be going anywhere, though, because we are addicted to it. Therein lies the problem. In a lot of cases, the perpetrator will get a rush out of the subterfuge, and their otherwise boring life will be made (by degrees) more interesting. In other words, it gets their heart pumping a little faster, and because it is the only thing that seems to do that, they seek out the behavior over and over.
The aforementioned is not a defense to the conduct, but it does explain how a seemingly normal person can do something so cruel and ugly to their own child.
Social Media Made Me Do it Defense
It is a bit like “the devil made me do it,” but it has a scientific basis. Today, some attorneys do nothing but focus on the role social media plays in destroying people’s lives. This includes teenagers who have taken their own lives, the victims of human trafficking, and countless others who believe in bizarre conspiracies.
A social media defense would be equivalent to a mental health defense in which the defendant admits to the facts of the case, but claims diminished capacity due to an outside force. It’s a strange case, especially considering it turned out to be the girl’s mother who was sending the messages.
Talk to a Cook County Criminal Defense Attorney Today
David Freidberg represents the interests of Chicago residents accused of serious crimes. Call today at (312) 560-7100, and we can begin preparing your defense immediately.