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How an Underscore in a Skyrim-Themed Username Sent an Innocent Man to Jail for 18 Months

Choose your usernames wisely, friends.

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Ever-so-slight variations in a Skyrim-themed username are what got a man from Halifax, Nova Scotia, sent to prison for 18 months to serve time for a heinous crime he did not commit. As the CBC reported, the difference between one underscore and two was enough to convict an innocent man for the crime of having a username too similar to someone who actually did commit a heinous crime.

Investigators in Wisconsin were tracking an adult accused of “child luring, making sexually explicit content available to a minor and possession of child pornography” while communicating with a 12-year-old girl through the messaging app Kik.

The suspect’s username was fus__ro_dah, a reference to the legendary Dragon........

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