The absence of an underscore in a username led an innocent man from Nova Scotia to prison for 18 months. A 2018 child-misconduct investigation, which began in Madison, Wisconsin, and eventually expanded to Halifax, Canada, was based on a false premise and an underscore. 
Police were looking for a man who used the Kik messaging service under the name “fus__ro_dah” (two underscores after “fus”), but accidentally found records for the username “fus_ro_dah” (one underscore after “fus”).
This one character difference did not lead them to the perpetrator but to a Canadian named Brandon Klayme.
Despite finding no evidence of the crime on his digital devices, Canadian police arrested Klayme in 2020 on charges of child sexual abuse.
He was convicted after a trial in 2023 and imprisoned in 2024 for 18 months. He served the entire sentence. Even after his release, Klayme continued to fight against his conviction.
During the process of preparing his appeal, the username mistake that led to all these years of turmoil was finally revealed.
So on Thursday, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned Klayme's conviction, stating:
Mr. Klayme is essentially innocent of the offenses. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted.” “Although the information regarding the usernames was available at the time of the trial, there is no evidence to confirm or explain how they went unnoticed.”
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
