2005/10/17

Mistaken identity: guilty until proven innocent.

The 17-year-old from northern New South Wales was stunned to discover students had copied footage from an X-rated website featuring an actress she looked like.

The 10 seconds of film was then circulated by email to dozens of other students, wrongly claiming she was the star.

The girl's parents have had to become members of a US porn site to track the original video and clear their daughter's name.

"As her parents we were astounded at the resemblance of the porn star to our daughter and, had we not recognized the difference in body features, we would have thought the same as everyone else – that it was her," her father said.

"She was crying in her room. I asked her if she had ever been drugged at a party because the video shows the porn star with eyes rolling and acting in a possible drug-induced state. She replied, 'No, never'."

It was discovered the actress had a tattoo on her shoulder, proving their daughter was not involved.

Her father also sounded a warning about cyber bullying.

"Some parents may not have had the time and money to find the original video and their child's name would be under a cloud because they could not have proved them innocent."

You know, it sucks to be accused of something you didn't do all because of circumstantial evidence. Innocent until proven guilty is a noble concept, but one that people just don’t have the time for anymore. Society is fast to deem a person guilty based on anecdotal data, when the true evidence has yet to be seen. It takes time to track down the truth, and what you say can and will be used against you. Then you have to fight hard against a biased audience to even attempt to prove your innocence and reclaim your standing. That is why plea bargains are so darn popular. It's easier to give up, than fight for right against wrong.

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