Vigilante justice: Millstone the Klown targets people on the sex offender registry and those he believes support them
Jeff Bast, who goes by Millstone the Klown on social media, says he is protecting children. His online following has brought scrutiny to people on the sex offender registry – and fear and lost work to people around them.
Lucy Reid took down the signs in broad daylight.
They had been posted around Winchester for weeks, calling attention to a child sexual abuse case. Reid understood the anger behind them. But the signs seemed to be everywhere, and she had grown weary of seeing her hometown defined by the worst thing alleged to have happened there.
She expected the person who put them up to be upset. She did not expect strangers to call her a “pedophile protector” or contact Our Town Books in Jacksonville, where she worked as a bookseller. Reid said the store was deluged with calls threatening demonstrations outside the shop unless it cut ties with her. One man contacted an author scheduled to appear there and the store’s book distributor. Reid was placed on unpaid leave.
Llaina Groves, owner of Llaina’s Dance & Gym in Jacksonville, said Bast posted a claim linking her husband and business to an alleged sex offender. Groves said he had the wrong person. Bast later posted an apology, she said, but people had already reacted to the accusation. She went to the police because she feared what strangers might do.
When Groves arrived at work Sept. 25, she found “DPDRE” spray-painted on the parking lot in front of the entrance, an abbreviation for “Dead Pedophiles Don’t Reoffend.” The identity of the person who painted them is not known.
Their experiences expose a question larger than one dispute in one small town. Public sex offender registries were created to give people information about convictions. Online, that information can also become a call to punish employers, co-workers and anyone seen as defending them. The consequences reach people who committed serious crimes, people trying to keep a business open and, as both women learned, people with no connection to the registry at all.
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I have experienced some incredible vigilant violence. I’ve been attracted, truck was burned, property stolen, threats, insults, abandonment, deliberate police indifference. The ONLY RESPITE I HAVE HAD IS WHEN I BECAME HOMELESS AND MY EXACT LOCATION BECAME UNKNOWN. PEACE RETURNED, ALBEIT AT THE COST OF SHELTER.
Comments are open on this article. Let your voice be heard!
It will be deemed “Free speech”. I deem it “Hate speech” with a bit of violence thrown into the mix.
What some people like that think all of us are small whippy fragile and scared. The fact is, some of us can hold our own in a fight. However, if we protect ourselves, we would probably still be arrested. No win situation.
This has been done over and over again to our friend Norm from the YouTube channel Internet Crimes Against Children – UNMASKED. He’s lost several jobs because of this. The vigilantes will just continue to harass the employers until the employers finally let him go.
Virginia law enforcement is very well aware of this, and they refuse to do anything about it. Norm is a sting operation victim, convicted based on Detective lies, who was not required to prove that Norm knowingly sent an inappropriate photo to what he believed to be a minor (on an adult sexual site). It’s still unknown how the photo claimed was sent ended up in a deactivated Grindr account that had been reported way before that photo ever (supposedly) appeared there.
(EDITED) They already had a history of making false accusations, way before this too. Interesting how they conveniently ignore any logic that doesn’t benefit them.
I have reviewed Norm’s YouTube channel and have subscribed to it on a personal level to keep updated to material. He is clearly a prominent figure who remains notably candid in his critiques regarding them.
Well…I would really really hate to be the one coming to my house to harass me or my family….
As much as I hate vigilantism, it brings light to more people, as to the problems we face. It also shows how evil, some people can be.
It is all hate until it happens to one of your loved ones. However, I have also seen families kick their kid or loved one out of the house for getting arrested for a sex crime. I was lucky my parents stood by me, not my crime but me as their son.
When I got out of prison, they allowed me to come live with them until I was ready to venture out on my own and got a job to save up. Back then there were lots of companies that hired ex-offenders but with all the hate from the public, now a lot of companies are re-thinking hiring us, especially for liability with their insurance.
My Mom also stood by me the entire 15 years I was locked up .. And, when I got out, I went home to my Mom and childhood home ..
When I got out I looked for a job, but nobody would hire me, either because of my cane usage, my shakes, or my criminal past ..
Social Security declared me 100% disabled because of military PTSD and gave me a monthly stipend, so, I could help Mom ..
Nine years after I got out I finally won my disability case with the VA and I received 18 years of backpay ..
So, I bought the house I grew up in to take care of the upkeep, so Mom doesn’t have to worry about it any more ..
She also lives with me and has life estate, in case I pass before she does ..
But, when I got out, three of my mother’s ADULT grandchildren wouldn’t come and see her any more because she stood up for her son and took me in .. They won’t even call her on holidays ..
It hurt her deeply, but she eventually got over it and said, “If they don’t understand a mother’s love will ALWAYS be a mother’s love for her children, then it is their loss.”
I have lost most of my friends, but I made new ones after I got out .. And a few family members won’t talk to me .. But, the Lord has blessed me throughout the process, including the 15 years I was locked up ..
I pray you are being blessed during your journey ..
Wow, have you considered writing a piece for The Havok Journal? They’ve been open to hearing stories like these and recently published mine. Your firsthand experience could help more people understand what families are facing. It may be worth reaching out to their editors.
I did think about it .. but a little nervous about what information will be disseminated ..
What is the email address?
I understand being nervous about sharing your story. Their email is [email protected].
Mike Warnock told me that The Havok Journal publishes stories under pen names or anonymously. He also assured me that material I submitted would not be quoted, published or circulated without my explicit permission.
It is a shared editorial inbox, so other staff may see your message. Also, once a story is published, it can be shared or republished. I’d suggest starting with a brief introduction and asking them to confirm your privacy boundaries before sending sensitive details. Even with a pen name, certain details can identify someone.
You can ask questions first without committing to publication.
— FAC Media
Thank you .. I might look into it ..
Luther
Thanks for your story. You and me were fortunate that our parent(S) love us enough to welcome us back. There are numerous families who when their “Loved one” got released, they were told to “hit the road as you are not coming back here”.
I think that is why there are so many homeless. When I see one on the side of the road, I do not know if they are just a guy down on his luck, or someone who is on the registry and no place to go.
I have heard of people who have been rejected by their families .. Fortunately, I have not seen it from prison friends I kept in contact with .. But, thank you for your comments .. I do look forward to reading many well versed stories and comments.
Have a blessed and joyous day.
Evil, which includes sexually abusing children, runs deep around here. r
Ok, so let’s talk about evil since you brought it up! What would you call going to prison for a crime you did not do? Would you call that evil or maybe just a mistake? What about selling drugs to kids is that evil or just business? What about getting kids to sell drugs is that evil or just free enterprize? What about arson, burning someone’s house down, because of a crime they may or may have committed, is that evil or just poetic justice?? What about the family members or perhaps thats just collateral damage?? The way I see it there are hundreds of reasons for calling something “evi” not just one?
What about being punished for a crime for rest of your life with no possibility of ever getting a break? Plus every time a new law is passed you are now forced to follow that law? No constitutional rights no consideration your crime/conviction was 44 yrs ago, no expo facto!!!
Most sex crimes involve adults. Children sexually abuse other children. Some “child” sex crimes don’t even involve any attempted contact with a child.