Last week, Tom filed a leave of absence from his office to attend to some personal matters. He had to make a three-hour drive to Oxford to personally meet his good friend Robert who works as private investigator, taking almost all types cases – from legal investigation to cyber investigation. And that was the main reason why Tom had to meet him.

Tom’s son has been distracted for several days because his classmates in school were mocking and sneering at him. They claimed that his son was bullying them on Facebook. But the truth was someone from their school had been setting up a false account with his son’s name and pictures posting a lot of mean and foul words intended for his classmates. This thing had greatly hurt his classmates but it was his son who suffered the most. He could no longer concentrate on his studies and he became socially withdrawn. He felt humiliated without fair reasons.
It was a case of identity theft that needed to be given special attention that’s why Tom had to seek the skills and expertise of a private investigator. Tom had thought that he should be smart about this for his son’s sake. He knew the false Facebook account was still active. So, he and his wife had decided to resolve this issue privately. They never gave any hint in school or from the police authority that this issue has already reached their senses. They did not want to give the suspect a reason to shutdown the false account so it can still be viable for investigation.
After Tom told his investigator friend all the important details about the case, he was assured that the investigation will involve tracking down the offender and be shown evidences of this ugly online activity.
Robert was very empathetic to Tom. He knew how it felt to have a son suffer from unfair cruelty. To ease things up, he invited Tom for a beer at their house lanai and started to set aside serious matters. They talked as two friends catching up with each other’s lives and conversing random things – from homes for sale in Oxford to retirement plans. It’s been ten years since they last saw each other. They needed more time to bond with each other.
Tom went home hopeful about his son’s fate. His friend Robert had investigated the identity theft crime and was able to track down the student who was the reason of Tom’s son misery. He was taught a lesson by taking him into police custody and he was asked to make an apology to Tom’s son and to all the students he bullied. The case was successfully solved.
At school, teachers and parents worked together to formulate programs to protect the students from being victimized by identity theft and other possible cyber crimes. Lessons about character formation were intensified and more valuable information about social media was handed out through campaigns. The case had become a big lesson for everybody.
Here is a video on cyberbullying that everyone should take the time to watch: