A Typo Landed an Innocent Gamer in Prison for 18 Months
Brandon Klayme, a Canadian man, was wrongfully convicted of child luring due to a police typo in a Kik username, serving 18 months before the error was discovered and his conviction overturned.
A single missing underscore in a Skyrim-themed username led to an innocent Nova Scotia man spending 18 months in prison. The case began in 2018 when a 12-year-old girl's mother in Madison, Wisconsin, found an inappropriate photo on her phone. Police investigating the case subpoenaed Kik for information on the username “fus__ro_dah” (two underscores after “fus”), but by mistake requested records for “fus_ro_dah” (one underscore).
Kik provided the email address of Brandon Klayme, who used the single-underscore version. Canadian police arrested Klayme in 2020 after tracing his IP address. Despite finding no evidence—no illicit images, no Kik activity during the relevant period—he was convicted in 2023 and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He served the full term.
During his appeal, Klayme's legal team finally noticed the username discrepancy. Prosecutors agreed the appeal should be allowed. The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned the conviction, stating that Klayme was “factually innocent” and should never have been charged. The court noted that proper investigation would have identified a suspect named Jay with a California IP address. How such a critical error went unnoticed remains unexplained, but the court noted the information was available at trial.
