Report: Police can’t help Arizona teen impersonated online
Jun 13, 2014, 4:51 PM | Updated: 4:51 pm
PHOENIX — Police are reportedly unable to help an Arizona girl who claims she is being impersonated online because it is not a crime in the state.
According to the New York Daily News, Gilbert residents, Reve Osheel, 12, and her mother, Brooke Barr, were shocked when they discovered someone had been pretending to be Osheel on Instagram.
Someone had taken enough of Osheel’s information and pictures to create a fake account and began sending nasty messages and comments to Osheel’s classmates.
Their nightmare took a turn for the worst when they were told that police couldn’t help.
Sgt. William Sanger of the Gilbert Police said, “It’s a pretty crappy thing to do, but it’s not criminal in nature.”
Arizona has yet to create a law that could prevent someone from making fraudulent accounts on social media.
Barr and Osheel were told that until one of the children targeted takes the account to authorities, the police cannot get involved.
The social media company has taken down the fake account and told Barr the only way they could reveal the face behind the account is through a search warrant.
