Innocent Canadian man spent 18 months in prison after police missed underscore in username

Canadian man spent 18 months in prison, all because of one missing underscore/Image: Representative Image A Canadian man who spent 18 months in prison has been fully acquitted after an appeals court found that a minor error in a police request led investigators to wrongly identify him in a child exploitation case, CTV News reported.The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has overturned the conviction of Brandon Klayme, ruling that he should never have been charged or prosecuted. Judges said the case stemmed from a simple mistake involving a username on a messaging platform.Klayme, from Dartmouth in Nova Scotia, was convicted in 2023 of child luring and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced in January 2024 to 18 months in prison followed by 18 months of probation. He had already completed his prison term and was serving probation when he launched his appeal.Investigation began with US complaintThe case originated in Wisconsin, where a 12-year-old girl told police she had been communicating with an adult on the Kik messaging app. She said the user, identified as “fus__ro_dah”, exchanged messages and sexual content with her between August and December 2018.Her mother later discove...