Brandon Klayme, 30, from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was wrongly imprisoned for 18 months after a police typo led to his conviction for child sexual abuse. Arrested in February 2020, Klayme was sentenced in early 2024 but successfully appealed, leading to his exoneration.
According to appellate court documents, the investigation commenced after a 12-year-old victim reported to police about an online acquaintance. The individual had requested sexual acts and exchanged sensitive images with her between August and December 2018.
The account that sent messages to the girl was identified as "fus__ro_dah," featuring two consecutive underscores between "fus" and "ro." However, when Wisconsin police sought to identify the man communicating with the victim, they mistyped the username in the warrant, mistakenly identifying the suspect as "fus_ro_dah." This account, which had only one underscore between "fus" and "ro," belonged to Klayme.
During his appeal, Klayme asserted he had stopped using that social media platform in 2012, six years before the alleged incidents occurred. Furthermore, the user of the account police were originally seeking belonged to a different individual located in California.
It remains unclear whether authorities will continue to investigate the man in California or if Klayme intends to pursue a lawsuit regarding the police negligence.
