A local newspaper editor has been charged with creating fake Reddit posts to smear the parents of a missing teenager.
Jarrett Brooks, 16, was last seen on his parents' security cameras grabbing a pistol at the house in Joseph City, Arizona, about 6.30am on July 4, 2023.
His parents Brian and Laura Brooks believe he was picked up by someone he met online and is still alive but at risk, and never stopped searching for him.
But instead of looking high and low for Jarrett, local police spent months investigating his parents over false claims Brian was molesting his son.
The heartbroken dad told DailyMail.com he never received an apology for the ordeal police put him through, and the social media conspiracy theories that persist to this day.
'We had a sit-down meeting with the sheriff and he has not once said he's sorry,' Brian said.
Molly Kathryn Ottman, 50, is accused of creating a Reddit account pretending to be Brian and made numerous posts alluding to 'sexual activity' with Jarrett.
She then contacted the Navajo County Sheriff's Office in October 2023 to alert them to the posts, which she claimed were made by Brian, prosecutors said.
Ottman is 'executive editor and an investigative journalist' of the Mountain Daily Star and wrote several articles about Jarrett in 2023 and 2024.
Police began investigating after her tip, including searching the Brooks home and seizing electronic devices Brian said were never returned.
Offices of Harter Investigations, a private...
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