A Craigslist prankster has lost his Internet privileges for the next 30-months, after posting an ad on behalf of his neighbor — without her knowledge.
Wisconsin resident Jason Willis, 31, has been banned from using the Internet and will be on probation for the next 30-months as part of a plea deal.
Willis posted an ad on Craigslist – a website advertising jobs, housing, personals, for sale, items wanted, services, and discussion forums – with his neighbor Dawn’s [last name withheld] information.
Willis later admitted to setting up the fake Craigslist personal ad that invited several unwanted suitors to show up at the woman’s door in November 2012, reports the Huffington Post. This resulted in undue anxiety for the female neighbor who failed to have a sense of humor over the ordeal.
According to the victim, one individual appeared at her doorstep donned in nothing other than a trench coat. The stranger showed up – obviously knowing her address, her full name, and revealed arriving in response to a personal ad on Craigslist.
The presiding judge, Pat Torhorst with the Racine County Circuit Court, revoked Willis’ Internet privileges after investigators uncovered his neighbor’s likeness and information online in a number of personal ads on Craigslist, and traced them back to the wannabe prankster, reports KSDK.
So why take away the man’s Internet? “If you want to drive drunk, you’re not allowed to drive! To me, a public availability of the Internet, to use it the way he did, is unconscionable,” explains Torhorst. Disarming Willis prevents this type of crime from reoccurring.
While Dawn would have preferred a prison term for Willis, stripping him of his Internet privileges for the next two-in-a-half years will certainly teach him a lesson. This means no online shopping, no Facebook, no Pinterest, not even a tweet.
Do you think the judgement was fair, or do you think Willis should have gone to jail?
[Image: Vanguard Visions]