Jason Mansur wants you to know something about him: he's never been to jail, he's not a high risk offender, he's never committed a crime and he's not guilty of anything.
The Milton man has been the subject of Internet harassment, after someone posted false and defamatory information about him on popular websites Kijiji and Craigslist.
The phony stories are designed to look like a real media report, and appear to be based on a bogus Orillia OPP release about its supposed subject. It issues a "warning" to the community about the man, who in reality has never done anything wrong.
And to add insult to injury, it not only lists his name but personal information, including his home address, further putting pressure on the innocent victim.
Halton Regional Police have confirmed with their provincial counterparts that the report is false but they have no idea who posted it or why.
Cops admit it's an unusual case that's caused the victim a lot of concern and trouble. And normally, you'd never have heard about it. But the man being maligned wants to make sure you know the real truth about him.
"Due to privacy legislation, police do not normally release victim's names," a real Halton Regional Police press release makes clear. "However, in this case the individual, Mr. Mansur, requested his name be released given the defamatory and libelous nature of this information, so his reputation could be publicly cleared."
Halton Police tell
CityNews.ca the information has been up for at least five days and that authorities have received calls from community members as well as the Board of Education as late as Thursday morning asking questions about the victim. They've been assured the items are all false. The websites have also been contacted and the postings have since been pulled down.
Mansur is married and has a family, who are also feeling the sting of the accusations. He's told police he has no known enemies and has no idea who would want to launch an attack against him.
Now cops are hoping to issue another press release, this time featuring the name of the person charged with committing this reputation-smearing act. And the penalty isn't small. Under the Criminal Code of Canada, anyone found guilty of defamatory libel can face up to two years in jail.
If you know anything about the postings or why they were put up in the first place, call the Milton Criminal Investigations Bureau at
(905) 825-4777 Ext. 2415 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at
1-800-222-TIPS (8477).