No sleuthing of minors!

[hoppyfrog]

The rule at WS is that the sleuthing of minors is not allowed. If you suspect a minor is a perpetrator of a crime, you may not post about your sleuthing of him/her.

Warnings and timeouts will be given for posts that include sleuthing of a minor.

Thanks,

Hoppy
mod

[Donjeta]

Is it allowed for minors who have been identified as suspects or POI by the police or is discussing them off limits too?

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by Donjeta

Is it allowed for minors who have been identified as suspects or POI by the police or is discussing them off limits too?

I see this thread is old, but I am curious about this also. Found this post via a search. Hope to reopen the discussion and get some answers.

If a minor is a)named by LE as a suspect or even b) charged with a crime in relation to a case that is being discussed on Websleuths...what happens???

Are all threads immediately shut down? Deleted?

Sad, but true, fact, sometimes minors DO commit crime.

TIA

[Melanie]

It's my understanding if a minor is named in the MSM, then we can discuss as to the MSM article (and nothing more). Some minors are charged as adults, and we can discuss (as described in the MSM). But otherwise NO.

I'm sure a mod will correct me HTH.

Mel

[Kimster]

If a minor is named as a suspect in a case or is arrested in a case, we can sleuth them.

The Elizabeth Olten case comes to mind. What a sad sad case that was. It still gives me nightmares!!!

Other than an arrest or POI named by LE, we don't name them. Even if they are named in the MSM.

In Kyron's case, when a child was interviewed, we referred to that minor by initials only.

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by Melanie

It's my understanding if a minor is named in the MSM, then we can discuss as to the MSM article (and nothing more). Some minors are charged as adults, and we can discuss (as described in the MSM). But otherwise NO.

I'm sure a mod will correct me HTH.

Mel

Wow. That was fast. And helpful!

I'm newish to WS and wondered if that had happened in the past, and if so, what the protocol was. Thanks!

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by Kimster

If a minor is named as a suspect in a case or is arrested in a case, we can sleuth them.

The Elizabeth Olten case comes to mind. What a sad sad case that was. It still gives me nightmares!!!

Other than an arrest or POI named by LE, we don't name them. Even if they are named in the MSM.

In Kyron's case, when a child was interviewed, we referred to that minor by initials only.

Double thanks!

This came up today because a question of the gender of a minor came up in a thread. Nothing more. The gender and the fact that the minor had given DNA to LE was mentioned in MSM. Nothing else. No names, ages, or addresses.

Hope that didn't cross any WS boundaries. If it did, I'll make sure not to make that mistake again. TIA.