Canadian Man Served Prison Sentence Due to Police Typo in Username

A Canadian Injustice Built on a Typo in Usernames

Six years ago, Canadian police knocked on the door of a user of the communication platform Kik and arrested him. Brandon Klayme was quickly accused of soliciting a minor, sending sexually explicit photographs, and possessing child pornography. Although a house search did not discover any evidence, he was convicted in 2023, and in 2024 he began serving an 18-month prison sentence. Klayme was innocent, and he found himself in prison due to a police mistake that went unnoticed by anyone for years.

Someone using the username fus__ro_dah (fus ro dah is a shout from the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) was sending inappropriate content to a 14-year-old girl from Wisconsin, which was discovered by her parents, who reported the communication to the police. The police requested profile data from the platform operator Kik for the profile fus_ro_dah and found that it was a Canadian user. Local police arrested and charged him, and later he was convicted despite the lack of evidence. Klayme served his sentence in full, but he still fought to prove his innocence. It turned out he was right. The police had requested information about the profile fus_ro_dah (with one underscore), which belonged to the unfortunate Brandon Klayme, and not about the profile fus__ro_dah (with two underscores), which actually communicated with the girl. It is not clear how no one noticed the mistake, nor how Kik did not report that there were multiple similar usernames. Once the police had the suspect’s contact information, the process ran on autopilot. It did not help that they found no material evidence on the suspect and that he was not even using Kik at the time, as the victim’s phone held the material evidence.

An appellate court recently ruled, even though Klayme had already served his sentence, that he is innocent. The real suspect is actually from California.

Federal Charges Filed Against a Buffalo-Area Priest

In a separate federal case handled in the United States, a priest from the Diocese of Buffalo faces severe criminal charges. Jeffrey Nowak, 46, of Lackawanna, was charged by criminal complaint on Wednesday, July 8, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York. Nowak, a priest with the Diocese of Buffalo, had been placed on administrative leave in August 2019 while the diocese investigated allegations of inappropriate contact with children and harassment of a seminarian.

Federal investigators later identified an email address linked to Nowak that had accessed a New Zealand-based cloud storage service containing files of sexually exploited children, prosecutors said. Although the FBI executed a search warrant in 2021 related to the email address, investigators did not find child pornography at that time, and the investigation was closed in 2023. The investigation was reopened in 2026 after investigators received a referral involving a Telegram group in which members allegedly participated in Zoom calls where child pornography was viewed and shared, according to the complaint. Investigators linked a participant using the username “PigBoy666” to Nowak, prosecutors said.

Evidence Seized and Legal Stakes in Western New York

On July 8, 2026, the FBI executed a search warrant at Nowak’s residence and seized several electronic devices, including a cellphone, laptop, iPad and USB storage device. Investigators said an initial review of the devices found multiple folders containing videos of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years if convicted.

Defendants like Jeffrey Nowak go to great lengths … to hide their criminal behavior, Nowak has now been exposed and can no longer hide and will be held accountable for his disgraceful behavior. U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo

Nowak is scheduled to appear Thursday, July 9, 2026, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer for an initial court appearance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango and is the result of an FBI investigation. Federal prosecutors emphasize that a criminal complaint is an accusation, and Nowak is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.