Tuesday, May 21, 2013

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Sylvester teen tormented by fake Facebook profile
Posted: 11.15.2012 at 1:17 PM
Colby Gallagher

Colby Gallagher joined the Fox 31 News Team in April 2012 as a general assignment reporter. Colby hails from Sewell, New Jersey and is an avid Philly sports fan.

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SYLVESTER, GA --
One Sylvester mother is fighting to get a Facebook page impersonating her 11-year-old son taken down.

Denise Foster says on Sunday, someone alerted her there was a page impersonating her son, but she didn't think too much of it until she saw the content.

The page impersonating her son says he is proudly gay and has feelings for his male classmates, even going as far as naming specific kids.

Foster says her son was so hurt and scared that he lost sleep on Tuesday night and that was when she decided to take action.

Foster reached out to not only Facebook but the police and the school as well to notify them of the situation.

Sylvester Police Department Investigator Kenneth Washington says they take these cases seriously and have the ability to subpoena Facebook for the IP address that created the account.

Once they trace the address, officials can press charges for defamation of character and more.

Washington says laws are different for juveniles and young kids often feel like they won't face repercussions for their actions but that isn't the case.

Foster says she wants to make sure whoever did this faces the consequences, whether it's in the form of community service or attending church with her.

FOX 31 reached out to Facebook who immediately disabled the account and said for anyone in this situation, click "help" on the bottom of the page and type in "fake pages."

From there, a list of resources and ways to handle the situation are listed.

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