OK, here goes: As a few of you may know from other social media channels, I have become the latest target of a well known sociopath who has a long and public track record of attempting to destroy people’s lives. That sounds a bit dramatic, but it’s sadly 100% accurate.
Some of this person’s actions are a matter of public record, and various court actions, many of them are not. It has publicly ridiculed victims of domestic violence calling one particular victim a “dumb bitch” and saying that “hopefully she learns her lesson not to be such a f**king doormat loser”, (something Clementine Ford addressed in an article), had a court declare it “not a witness of truth” and declare it “mastered the art of manipulation as a witness” (actual quotes from the court documents) before throwing out a case it pursued to try and cause someone else harm.
When you get targeted by it, most people suggest you should just lay down and take it and hope that it goes away because of how “dangerous” it is, which would possibly be excellent advice for a regular, garden variety bully or ‘troll’. But this creature, because I will not name it or even call it a ‘human’, also has a track record of contacting your friends and colleagues directly in an attempt to ruin your reputation. It would actually be funny if it hadn’t already caused many people, some whom I know personally, significant harm. In fact, even by attempting to defend yourself, you usually end up looking like a bit of a drama queen/king for going on about it. But it is a big deal to me. And I’ll tell you why.
Last week, it randomly popped up on one of my social media channels accusing me of having a criminal record for certain illegal activities including, but perhaps not limited to, a “child in my care”. Suffice to say, these claims are not true. Other than my own son, there’s never even been a child in my care, and there is certainly no criminal record. For anything. Ever. It also went so far as to tag a number of friends and at least one business I am associated with in an effort to cause me personal and professional harm. I’ve considered getting an updated police clearance to prove the claims are untrue and how bloody embarrassingly squeaky clean I am, but meh, we’ll see. Because there are much funner things I’d rather do with $60. 🙂
(I say randomly, but actually, the only other interaction I’ve ever had with this creature was 18 months ago when I expressed how inappropriate its misogynistic comments were – screenshot below. Unlike it, who generally hides behind a keyboard, I did this politely and in person which not surprisingly it didn’t seem to enjoy overly much.)
As it happens, on the weekend, this creature was physically assaulted by someone it has caused significant harm to over an extended period of time, and somewhat selfishly I did think maybe that would keep it distracted for a bit and I’d be out of the woods. But nope, this morning it popped up again, again tagging a friend and commenting on the fact I don’t use my “legal name” as if that’s some sort of indication of guilt. Again, just for the record, ‘Sputnik’ is absolutely my Common Law name and has been for 30+ years, and my birth name is not really something I keep secret, it’s just not relevant to anything so I tend not to use it.) It also claimed a picture of me laying back in a rock pool I posted looked like a “bloated albino walrus” which, to be fair, is possibly one of the only truthful things it’s said in a long time. Although I can’t help but feel the “bloated” bit was overkill.
So why do I share this with you now, giving it more oxygen and making you aware of something that may well have gone unnoticed? Because I refuse to be a victim. I refuse to live in fear that it will contact some of you with bullshit stories about me. And I refuse to be silenced – for those of you who know me, you’ll know it’s mainly that one. 🙂
I’ll air the claims up-front because I refuse to give this creature any power over me. I refuse to be bullied or intimidated or threatened. I refuse to be nervous or anxious about what it might do or say next. I’ve always spoken my truth and lived my life as an open book with my heart on my sleeve, and I’m not about to stop now because of a creature like that.
Amongst other things, mostly to do with my “real name” and “DARK past”, it claims “someone sent me something about you and a child in your care” and I welcome, and have asked to see, any information on what that “someone” or “something” might be. So far it has yet to send any proof of anything at all because, obviously, there is none.
I think social media is a fascinating space. As someone who grew up in the era of Fax Machines and landlines with those weird curly cords that always got tangled up, I still find it magical and miraculous and amazing and wonderful in so many ways – both personally and professionally. But we also know it can be the exact opposite as well. And while I personally find it a bit uncomfortable and often unnecessary when people ‘air their dirty laundry’ on social media, after considering what I should or shouldn’t do, I’ve simply decided to take control of this story and head any problems off at the pass, so to speak.
Perhaps I’ve brought attention to a problem that doesn’t yet, and may not ever, exist. But I’ll be buggered if I’m going to sit around scared, biting my tongue, nervously waiting for some creature to try and inflict damage. These people deserve no power. They have no power.
I am the walrus… albeit a bloated albino one. Be awesome to each other.
EDIT: As you can imagine I have no problem at all ‘naming and shaming’ but this creature takes pleasure in notoriety, and makes money from clicks and views, and I will give it none of those things, and I encourage you to do the same.
EDIT 2: Having spoken to this person at length this evening (20/1/20) he made the claim that when we spoke 18 months ago I tried to “intimidate me and but soon left when I brought up your past and showed you I’m not scared of you bro”. At this point, I recalled that on that day I had been taking photos and video as I often do when I’m running, and that I in fact ended up with a recording of our conversation that proved he at no time brought up my past. So yet again, another lie that is not hearsay but rather something I can prove. He has pointed out that it was possibly not legal or ethical for me to record that conversation and asked me to add to this blog that I did that, so this is me doing that. He also asked me to confirm that when we spoke on the phone this evening, that I recorded that also, which I did. At the start of the call he asked if I was recording it and I confirmed I was. It was a very informative conversation. I have no current need to share the content of that conversation but am happy to if I need to at some point.
EDIT 3: After initially making some sort of vague accusation about a “child in my care” (which I don’t and have never had), this evening he added that “you bashed your ex right?”. I’m really lucky that all me exes, and yes there’s a few, bloody love me. So going all the way back to my ex wife, I’m happy to drag them all out to say how awesome I am. OK, maybe not awesome, but they’ll all happily confirm none of them were bashed.
EDIT 4: In discussing the supposed accusations against me, I confirmed I do in fact take pics of kids at parkrun, because I take pics of everyone at parkrun unless they make the appropriate cross arm gesture to signal they don’t want their photo taken, before posting them to my public facebook page for all runners to enjoy. I have suggested that rather than provide my driver’s license and a police check to him as he has requested, that it might be more appropriate if he reports me to parkrun or even the police if he is so worried about the welfare of minors, and I will gladly supply those documents to them. In fact, to be more accurate, I am unlikely to need to present my police clearance to the police because, ah, they’re the police. They already have it.
