Warning: Graphic content The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has acquitted a man who was convicted on three child pornography-related offences and introduced new evidence in his case. Brandon Klayme of Dartmouth, N.S., was arrested in 2020 and convicted in 2023 of: On Jan. 5, 2024, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and 18 months of probation. Klayme served the 18-month prison sentence and was on probation when he sought an appeal of his conviction, citing new evidence. According to court documents, a 12-year-old girl from Wisconsin was being contacted by an adult male named Jay on the messaging app, Kik. The documents state she communicated, performed sexual acts, and shared intimate images with him between August and December 2018. The girl’s mother had found photos on the girl’s phone and turned it over to police. Officers reported there were 125 messages between the girl and Jay, who spoke with her under the username “fus__ro_dah,” a reference to the video game Skyrim. But in their investigation, the court says, Wisconsin police erred in misspelling the man’s username and missed an underscore, falsely leading them to Klayme’s Kik account instead. They acquired his email from the messaging account and were able to find his IP address in Halifax. From there, the investigation was handed over to Halifax Regional Police. Halifax Regional Police arrested Klayme and executed a search warrant, seizing phones and laptops from his home. They were unable to find any evidence linking him to the offences, yet he was still sentenced to prison for his erroneous association with the alleged offender’s username. In his affidavit, Klayme writes: “it was discovered that the subpoena contained a subtle mistake that changed the course of my life. Instead of requesting details for the username ‘fus__ro_dah’, the subpoena requested details for the username ‘fus_ro_dah’. The police officer did not notice that the perpetrator’s Kik username ‘fus__ro_dah’ contains a double underscore.” “As a result of that error, the police incorrectly identified Mr. Klayme as the person communicating,” state court documents. “If the correct username had been identified, it would have identified an individual whose first name is Jay and whose IP address appears to be in California.” The court heard Klayme’s appeal in writing and released its decision July 23. “Mr. Klayme should not have been convicted of these offences,” reads the court decision. “This is not a situation where an acquittal is entered because the Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the essential elements of an offence or an error during the trial and made the verdict unsafe. In these circumstances, Mr. Klayme is factually innocent of the offences. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted.” Klayme has been acquitted on all charges and his sentence has been vacated. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
