Internet Groups that Favor the Murder Investigation of Eight Year Old Lorenzo are Facing Cyber Bullies

After the cold blooded murder of eight-year-old Lorenzo Gonzalez-Cacho, still unsolved after 40 days, the pressure of public opinion is increasing in Puerto Rico. Literally, letters demanding a resolution to the case, and a better, faster investigation, flood radio and television stations. People are calling ratio stations and constantly fax and e-mail the Department of Justice, Department of Family, the Governor himself, the Superintendent of Police and the Attorney General, among other agencies.




Several groups and pages demanding justice for Lorenzo have been created on the Internet, especially in the social network Facebook. These groups share information on the latest developments of the case and discuss television programs and radio interviews. Through these cyber forums, many users have discussed several theories and irregularities surrounding this case.

One group named "Justice for Lorenzo González” recently was the target of cyber hackers. The hackers removed the photos of the child and instead placed satanic images and photographs showing the number 666, the antichrist and bloody massacres. These pictures, obviously, created discomfort, fear and repulsion among the forum members.

Replacing the original pictures with profane images is nothing but a strategy of psychological intimidation and threat. This is called bullying. The hackers, who use pseudonyms like “Gato Encerrado” (translated as: a fishy situation) and Basta Ya (“stop”), criticize the citizens that exercise their right to free expression, which is guaranteed by the Constitution of Puerto Rico and the United States of America. They also blocked the group administrator and several leaders from accessing the group.

The facts are: that Lorenzo’s mother was interviewed as a suspect of her own child’s murder; she was deprived of the custody of her two surviving daughters, and has exercised the right to remain silent. She has also hired a fourth criminal lawyer; a litigation attorney renown for achieving the shortest possible sentence in a notorious murder case. These cyber bullies seem to be annoyed whenever the people of Puerto Rico find expression for their opinions and concerns, and thus have resorted to rather primitive ways of coercion using the latest technology. A paradox, isn’t it?

Cyber Crime Investigations ,Bridging the Gaps Between Security Professionals, Law Enforcement, &Prosecutors 2007 publication