Judge Says Nasty Facebook Pages are ID Theft
Facebook pages are covered by New Jersey's identity-theft law, a judge has ruled in upholding charges against a woman who allegedly trashed her ex-boyfriend by creating a false Facebook account in his name and filled it with unpleasantries.
Dana Thornton was ordered to appear in court next month on ID theft charges stemming from a failed relationship with Michael Lasalandra. Her lawyer, Richard Roberts, had argued that, because the state's law does not specifically mention electronic communications or social media as a means for stealing someone's identity, the charges were invalid, says an LA Times report.
Roberts also argued that the charges failed to specify any injuries Lasalandra might have suffered.
After the couple no longer dated, a false page was created for Lasalandra and updates were posted aimed at disparaging the former boyfriend, a police detective in Parsippany, the report says. The comments posted on the page, which no longer exists, portrayed Lasalandra negatively. Thus, a judge ruled that injury had been done to Lasalandra's reputation. Even though the law does not specify the means by which such injury could occur, it is "clear and unambiguous," Ironson said in ordering Thornton to face ID theft charges, the report says.
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