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Denton woman arrested, accused of impersonating an Oregon woman online
[January 17, 2013]

Denton woman arrested, accused of impersonating an Oregon woman online


Jan 17, 2013 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A three-year Internet nightmare for an Oregon woman is over -- for now.

Denton police arrested 32-year-old Michelle Speed on Wednesday, accusing her of hacking into the victim's social websites, writing slanderous statements against her and even starting an online petition to get her fired from her job.

The reason: the Oregon woman was the ex-girlfriend of a man in Denton who Speed had been dating.

Speed was released Wednesday from the Denton City Jail shortly after her arrest. Bail information was unavailable.

Speed faces a charge of online impersonation and breach of security.

Denton police first began to investigate the case in March when the Oregon woman contacted them and told them that she had been terrorized via the Internet for three years.

Through the investigation, authorities determined that someone had hacked into the Oregon woman's account on Goodreads, a social website for book fans, and created a Facebook page with the victim's name. The suspect kept posting items, but the Oregon woman couldn't delete or close it down.



A suspect then started posting items about the Oregon woman on TheDirty.com, a controversial gossip website.

In other attacks on her, the Oregon woman told authorities that someone had sent her employer an email, demanding that she be fired. There was also on online petition to have her fired, Denton police said.


Investigators later determined that IP address was in Denton.

When authorities asked the Oregon woman who she still knew in Denton, she answered her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend.

If convicted of online impersonation, Speed faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. The breach of security is a Class B misdemeanor and someone convicted of that crime could face a maximum of 180 days in jail.

Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763 Twitter: @mingoramirezjr ___ (c)2013 the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Visit the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at www.star-telegram.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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