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January 18, 2006

Students Expose Sex Offender Through Wikipedia Research

Mug shot of Joshua Gardner, AKA Caspian James Crichton-Stuart IV, 5th Duke of Cleveland.

Just when you thought there wouldn't be any more national news stories about Wikipedia, here comes one right out of left field. As reported by ABC News, the WACK-a-Pedia blog and elsewhere. a group of high school students foiled attempts of a registered sex offender to enroll in their school by researching his background on Wikipedia.

Here's what happened. A young man identifying himself as Caspian James Crichton-Stuart IV, 5th Duke of Cleveland, visited Stillwater Area High School in Minnesota three times trying to enroll as a transfer student. He had a "spot on" English accent and insisted on being called "your grace." Students at the school had their doubts, so they began researching him on the Internet. They found Wikipedia citations regarding the Duke of Cleveland had been edited on several occasions by an anonymous Wikipedian - edits that were promptly corrected by other Wikipedians but still viewable in this Wikipedia edit history. They also found that someone named Joshua Gardner had created an entry for Caspian James Crichton-Stuart IV, the person who had visited the school. Subsequent student research exposed Gardner to be their so-called Duke of Cleveland; he also happened to be a 22-year-old registered sex offender.

This case offers a fascinating example of Wikipedia use in the classroom. While many educators may poo-poo Wikipedia, the checks and balances set up for the site allow visitors to explore the detailed history of how an article is created and edited over time; without this data, the students might never have uncovered Gardner's true identity.... -andy

Posted by acarvin at January 18, 2006 11:01 AM

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