I need HELP. Cyberbullies are threatening to get my child taken away.

[antebellum]

These people have looked up EVERYTHING about me. My IP and email were publicly posted, they know where I live, where I go to school, what my real name is, what sites I have accounts at, EVERYTHING. All because I made a stupid mistake by asking someone to remove a photo that at the time I believed to be my intellectual property. They created a thread in a forum similar to this one, and began to write horrible things about me, and exposing every single thing they could dig up about me.

I ended up reporting them on a cyberbully site. Which they found, and began torturing me in the comment section there, too. One of them, back in their own forums, said something about me being up so late to defend myself when I had a child, and that the next day I'd be sleeping instead of watching him. So I lied and retaliated by saying "Good thing my son is at his father's, or we'd have another case of child death by ignorant parent, eh?" This was not a threat, it was sarcasm. I have a screenshot of their conversation, and the original file with my response in it.

Now they are saying that they're calling the FBI and having my child taken away from me. I have all the screenshots of this convo as well. They said I will be in federal prison, all while laughing about how they've won, how I am all these dirty words.

I have never responded directly to their site. The extent of our contact was the ONE message I originally posted to the guy who had my picture up, and the ONE message I sent through the "contact us" link, asking them to remove the picture and ban or suspend the user in question. The site emailed me back (or rather, the individual) and said they didn't care. I admit, at the time, I was hasty, and wrong. But they've gone too far. I have the links to the forums as well. I acted defensively when I said what I said. I felt like a cornered animal, and all they keep doing is coming at me and coming at me and coming at me. I just don't know what to do anymore. Will they really get my son taken away from me? After all the stuff they've done, all the cyberstalking, IP tracing, posting of personal photos and information, can they really just swoop in and destroy my life all because I reported them to a cyberbully website?

Any help or tips would be great. Thank you. I feel like I'm about to break down.

[antebellum]

UPDATE: They've reported me to child services. I don't know what to do. I'm breaking down. I don't know who to call.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

There's likely little to be done. Personal information is readily available on the internet. That's the stark reality of the world we live in nowadays. If you haven't taken steps to minimize your presence on the internet, then just about anyone can get almost anything on you.

The only thing you can do legally is to contact your local police department and ask about any applicable laws your state may have with regards to internet harassment. It's a long shot, but it's the only one you've got. If there is no such law in your state, turn off the computer.

[antebellum]

They've called a children service 24-hour line and reported me. They keep leaving out half of what I said to make me sound like I'm really threatening my child. They've actually called the place, and now they're laughing about it on their site, all while saying stuff like "it was my civic duty".

[Sgt. Slaughter]

So? Stop looking at their website!

[ChesCopPodz]

Step 1- never go to their website again. Bullies are the same online as they are in real life, once they stop getting a rise out of their target, they turn their attention elsewhere.

Step 2- Who cares if DHS pays a visit? They'll very quickly see that nothing's wrong, case closed.

Step 3- To be safe, monitor your credit.

Step 4- Ignore that site, and never go back to it.

[retdetsgt]

Step 1- never go to their website again. Bullies are the same online as they are in real life, once they stop getting a rise out of their target, they turn their attention elsewhere.

Step 2- Who cares if DHS pays a visit? They'll very quickly see that nothing's wrong, case closed.

Step 3- To be safe, monitor your credit.

Step 4- Ignore that site, and never go back to it.

What he said. Quit playing the game. It would help to change ISP's and your email address. Then use more caution about who you deal with on the Internet.