Case Explained: Identity Theft Arrest in Monroe County | Local News – Legal Perspective

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says one woman is charged with identity theft after deputies received word she posted a copy of an arrest warrant of a registered sex offender on Facebook.

Sheriff Tommy Jones stated that Emilee “Emma” Berger posted a warrant for a man named Mitchell Cook on a Facebook page titled “Uncensored Voices of Monroe County Revamped.”

According to TDOC, Cook has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2003. He was charged with sexually exploiting a minor and attempted statutory rape in 2006 and has had several probation and sex offender registry violations since then.

That document Berger posted, according to Sheriff Jones, contained personal information, including his Social Security number, date of birth, driver’s license number, and full name.

Detectives later spoke with Cook, who confirmed he did not give anyone permission to publish his personal identifying information anywhere. They then reached out to Berger, who said she had redacted the identifying information after somebody told her about it, and then reposted the warrant with the personal information removed.

“However, the following day Ms. Berger created another post on the same Facebook page acknowledging that the warrant had originally been posted without the identifying information being redacted,” Sheriff Jones wrote. “The copy of the warrant that appeared on Facebook contained a visible line through the document. Detectives determined that this line is automatically applied when documents are scanned into the Monroe County court system.”

Since the original warrant does not contain that line, detectives believed that the copy posted on social media originated from the Monroe County Clerk of Court’s electronic system and was transferred to Betger by someone who had authorized access to the system.

Investigators then had to try and figure out who accessed the document and sent it to Berger.

The county’s clerk of court requested an audit of the court system from the time the warrant was signed and entered into the system until the time it appeared on social media. She found that two different authorized users had access to the document during the relevant timeframe, and neither was an employee of the sheriff’s office nor the clerk of court’s office. At this time, it has yet to be determined who the culprit is.

Sheriff Jones says his office will hand their findings off to “the appropriate authorities responsible” for furthering the investigation:

“While many county records are public records and can be viewed by the public, certain information contained within those records is protected by law and is not permitted to be publicly disclosed, including personal identifying information such as Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. Documents released through proper public channels have this information redacted to protect individuals from identity theft and fraud.”

Deputies arrested Berger on Friday, March 13. 

A member of the Facebook group where the document was posted said they are disappointed the county prioritized putting this woman behind bars, referencing the sheriff’s office arrest of a retired preacher who died while restrained for hours in a chair at the Monroe County Jail.

“Can’t protect a 74 year old man but protection for Registered Sex Offenders is a priority for 8 Monroe County Officers on a Friday night,” the user posted. “Remember this when you vote.”

Sheriff Jones says the public shouldn’t always trust what they see on social media.

“The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office encourages the public to avoid relying on rumors or unverified information circulating on social media,” he stated. “As always, we ask citizens to wait for accurate information released directly by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office regarding ongoing investigations.”