Hacker’s Mom Puts End to 10-Month Cyber-bullying Campaign

A cyber-bullying campaign waged against a sixth grader from North Carolina for nearly a year appears to have been curtailed following its discovery by the abuser’s mom.

For ten months, 12-year-old Wilson resident Jaylen White was on the receiving end of abuse so severe that he changed schools in a fruitless attempt to escape it and began having suicidal thoughts. 

The cyber-bullying was reported by White and his mother, Sheleen White, to school officials at Wilson Prep when it began disrupting White’s remote learning. 

After the school failed to solve the problem, White was enrolled at Elm City Middle School, where he switched to strictly offline learning. 

“They (the school) deleted his account, and we went to paper packets all year,” said Sheleen White. 

White’s mother reported the online abuse to her internet provider and to law enforcement officials, but the cyber-bullying campaign continued, with the perpetrator hacking into White’s PlayStation account and ruining his games. 

Intimidating messages left by the cyber-bully would flash up on the screen while the Whites were watching movies on Netflix. 

One such message read: “I will stop if you kill yourself I promise.” 

White’s tormentor sent other messages stating that he knew where his victim was living. 

The Whites were also targeted with frequent fake 911 calls known as swatting attacks that brought emergency services to their home. Law enforcement agencies told the Whites that they did not possess the necessary equipment to be able to trace the calls. 

White became so distraught by the cyber-bullying that he considered taking his own life. 

“I remember him crying and saying, ‘Mom if I just do it, maybe they’ll leave us alone,’ ” Sheleen White told CBS17 News. 

“My child is being broken down to the point he is ready to leave the earth because someone is bothering him.”

Last week, two new messages seemingly from the cyber-bully, appeared while the Whites were watching Netflix. 

“I won’t hack you anymore. My mom caught me hacking you,” read the first message, while the second one said, “She told me to apologize. I’m sorry for hacking you. Imma [sic] gonna disconnect from your stuff.”

Since the messages were sent, the cyber-bullying has stopped. Sheleen said she wants to see whoever was behind the bullying caught and punished.