Help I'm being falsely accused of a crime!?

Question

I recently got called by the police and they asked me to come down to the station and speak with them. When I got there they showed me some chat transcript or something with two people talking dirty on it.

I read part of it and it was a guy talking to a 14 year old girl. The only chat rooms I go in are on irc and there's no 14 year old girls there.

My question is how worried do I have to be after being accused of this? Obviously I didn't confess to it or anything because it wasn't me. But with all the internet predator hysteria, are they going to come after me with just a chat log they said was mine?

Don't they need real evidence like confirmation that that was me ? I'm anxious about spending a lot of money on an attorney at this point because they haven't even charged me officially with a crime yet. Can I be prosecuted based off a chat transcript? If my computer was hacked or one of my friends was over messing around on my computer while I was gone, how can I prove this?

Well they didn't give me an exact date of when this occurred but just said during the month of April. I mean a lot of my friends have used this computer, isn't there a minimum level of evidence need to charge someone with a crime? I can't even sleep over this. I've never been with an underage girl and now I'm being accused of some crime that will forever ruin my life. How in America can this happen? A piece of an online chat transcript can convict and ruin a young man's life?

What's going on here?

I don't know, I'm really freaked out. The local police here are really zealous about this internet stuff. I saw them do an episode of "to catch a predator" here even.

But I mean the fact that I have absolutely no criminal record and that there is no proof it was me, won't it be unlikely a district attorney will choose to file charges?

I mean this is America not Nazi Germany.

No I haven't been charged with anything. I'm not 100% certain who it could've been and have no desire to start telling my friends that visited during the entire month "hey I'm being accussed of hitting on a 14 year old. Was it really you?"

You say that I need to prove I wasn't here or that someone else did it. I might have credit card receipts or something else to prove I wasn't here at the time, but what if I don't? Isn't the burden of proof on the police?

I didn't do anything wrong. I mean always thought in America where you're innocent until proven guilty, you need to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt through a preponderance of evidence. Someone was screwing around on my computer and now the cops are threatening to ruin my entire life? What's next? If some spammer sends me an email with pornographic material or some other illegal content, I'm also responsible cause my IP address says so? How could this possibly hold up in court with no witnesses etc?

Answer 1

They don't ask questions they don't already know the answers to.

Also, they don't make mistakes. So, your analogy about a friend messing around on your computer doesn't fly because you haven't really told us about a specific friend you are worried about, or thought about when this could have occurred, and who could have been on your computer at that time. You are obviously looking for an alibi.

You appear guilty with the little information you have provided, and the way you worded it.

Have an attorney ready in the event you are accused.

Answer 2

Well first off I am not saying you did anything wrong but I am using the word 'You' in my answer to mean the party responsible and not you personally.

Ok...Now, if somewhere in the transcript this girl tells you that she is 14 yrs old and you continue to chat 'dirty' as you put it, you have committed a crime. Your computer IP address is recorded by whatever chat service the conversation took place on, so if the IP Address comes back to your computer that is enough evidence for the police to investigate you. Also, there are time stamps on the transcript. If you can prove that you were not on your computer during these times, you can use that in your defense. You really need to talk to anyone that may have used your computer and have them come clean if it was them. As far as being hacked, that is highly unlikely. Hackers will steal your information but cant really sign on a chat service through your IP address. They could steal your ID and chat from their computer but the IP Address would be different, so that theory is most likely out the window.

Have you been charged with anything? You really should consult with an attorney. Tell him everything, even if you did it. You dont have a record, if you are charged, you may be able to make a deal and get the charge downgraded.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Firstly the police must prove that it was you on that site at that time. It is there problem to prove this, hence the reason you have not been charged with the crime yet. it is advisable not to let your friends use your computer unless you are watching. It is also possible that this 14 year old went on that site and told you that she is older then she really is. There are also ways to pull up any conversations you have had on chat sites on your computer log, I would think being in America the cops would know how to do this. So I think you need not worry, the police are fishing. But I would strongly advice that you try and find out who was chatting to a underage girl and kick there butts.

Answer 5

Calm down, since there is no charge sheet that they handed over you then you have nothing to worry about. They have no probable case, and since they haven't got anything on you then you are absolutely have nothing to worry about. Since this is merely a transcript of words between two person, they cannot match any of them to you. If this is a voice tape, maybe then they have something. But it is not.

In the first place they are just letting out smoke screen that whoever scream first caught last. This is just a tactic of the police department to scare off some person of some crime they absolutely donot know of yet. I bet they invite everyone in your community not only you to come to the station for some questioning, so nothing to worry about. Everybody can accuse everybody, even me I can accuse you of climbing my backyard, but do I have enough evidence is another story. Since you didnot confess then END of the STORY. Return to your ordinary life then, do your usual routine.

You donot have to hire, yet an attorney. What for? Since they didnot charge you, see you got the instinct already of a practicing lawyer. No, you cannot be prosecuted based solely on chat transcript or manuscript. Because it is baseless and useless to use in court, the judge will throw this evidence out of the window. Imagine a criminal case, even with enough evidence the killer is let loose by the judge what more with just a transcript, come on.

Stand firm on your conviction that it is not you, finish. In order to investigate your computer, the police will need a search warrant from a judge. Since this is not a priority case, they will just let it pass.

Answer 6

You can be prosecuted based on a chat transcript. The police should have the date of the transcript. You should just tell them which friend has keys to your home and was housesitting. And show them your credit card receipts to prove you were away. This will remove you as a suspect.

They can get a search warrant to remove and test your computer. You should talk with your friend about exactly what he did while on your computer, so you know what is there. Maybe he accessed some kiddie porn sites.

Answer 7

Police have several ways to track internet crimes, IP address and even more so your mac address. If your computer was used and you didnt do it I'd highly recommend a polygraph(sometimes they will dismiss cases prior to setting up a court date.) Also they will need to provide the time it happend and you hopefully remember what you were doing that day at that time. A little recommendation is password protect your machine, and if someone needs to use it create an account for them. Dont have your comp remember passwords,especially if you can contact another person through that website or application.Never have auto sign on. The chances of someone hacking your system for that reason is rare, I'd be questioning your friends, and maybe your acct was hacked. Your system however i doubt it, ask for mac address and IP information. Thats a for sure way to eliminate that idea.

Answer 8

Well the thing is the police can say anything they want but they have to prove its you. With them not changing you at this point could be a good thing that mean they are trying to investigate all the facts. I'm sure if they really thought it was you they would have already arrested when you went down to the police station I think it was more to see how you would react also they have to prove that you are the only one who uses the computer.

Answer 9

If you are innocent, don't worry about it until you are charged.

If you aren't innocent, or think it is likely you WILL be charged, give some thought to the attorney you will want to hire when you are charged. Making this decision while in jail awaiting your bail hearing is somewhat less than optimal.

Answer 10

you computer stores a lot of information. you can have a hard time cleaning up your tracks if you don't know how. and yes, im sure someone can hack your computer so they can trace you instead. now they can't pin anything on you...yet. just plead the 5th amendment. you have the right to not get yourself into trouble, so you don't have to get up and spill everything out.