What Happened To Jessi Slaughter

[Imogen Petrusky]

TheJessi Slaughter cyberbullying case was an American criminal case that revolved around an 11-year-old named Jessica Leonhardt (known online as "Jessi Slaughter" and "Kerligirl13"), whose profanity-laden videos went viral on Stickam and YouTube in 2010. The videos were made in response to accusations that a friend had raped Leonhardt, and that Leonhardt had a sexual relationship with the lead singer of the electropop band Blood on the Dance Floor, a man named Dahvie Vanity (real name Jesus David Torres) while Leonhardt was a minor.[1] This resulted in a campaign of telephone and internet harassment against Leonhardt and their family, chiefly attributed to the Blood on the Dance Floor fanbase on 4chan as well as alleged members of the internet-based group Anonymous.[2] It began a debate about the dangers of anonymity on the Internet, and whether or not the Internet is a safe environment for minors, and all people in general.[3][4]

Leonhardt told The Independent in 2016: "I wouldn't even call what happened to me cyberbullying, it was straight up harassment and stalking. It started out as cyberbullying but it quickly evolved." Vanity has repeatedly denied all of the allegations against him. He has also denied knowing Leonhardt or any of the other victims that have accused him of sexual assault, rape, and child molestation and has stated that Leonhardt had a mental illness.[5] The song "You Done Goofed" from the Blood on the Dance Floor album Epic is about Leonhardt and Vanity's alleged experiences with them.[6]

Leonhardt later came out as transgender and non-binary, and started going by the name Damien Leonhardt.[7] In 2018, they accused Vanity of child sexual abuse and rape in a post on social media site Tumblr during their alleged relationship, when Leonhardt was 10 years old.[8] One year later, an additional 21 women accused Vanity of sexual assault, child molestation, and rape, with many of them saying the attacks took place while they were under the age of consent.[9]

Leonhardt began making YouTube videos when they were 10 years old, discussing "fashion, clothes and local drama that was happening within the party scene" which were uploaded on their friend's webcam.[10] Leonhardt posted their first popular video just before their twelfth birthday in response to two claims made on StickyDrama and MySpace: the first being that they were a victim of rape, and the second being that they were coerced into a sexual relationship with the lead singer of the electronic band Blood on the Dance Floor, a man by the name of Dahvie Vanity (real name Jesus David Torres). The video was eventually linked to by users of 4chan, who then found and distributed Leonhardt's real name, phone number and address.[1] Leonhardt also responded to comments that their relationship with Vanity constituted statutory rape with anger.[3]

The harassment intensified after Leonhardt uploaded a video that included their father, Gene Leonhardt, insulting and threatening the 4chan users that had posted information about Leonhardt, telling them they had "done goofed", and that:

"You know what? I'm gonna tell you right now, this is from her father, you bunch of lying no-good punks! And I know who it's coming from, because I backtraced it! And I know who's emailing and who's doing it, and you've been reported to the cyber-police and the state police! You better not write one more thing, or screw with my computer again, you'll be arrested, end of conversation, from her father! And if you come near my daughter, guess what? Consequences will never be the same! You lying bunch of pricks!"

The video, which was titled "You Dun Goofed Up", received over 1 million views on YouTube in one week.[11] Leonhardt's father's reaction made the taunting worse, and the video of his reactions received more views than any of Leonhardt's previous recordings, with several quotes from his speech becoming memes themselves.[4] Gene was later arrested in March 2011 for abusing Leonhardt in an argument when he punched them, causing them to have bloody and swollen lips, according to a police report. Gene later died from a heart attack while in custody at a police station in early 2011.[12][13]

Leonhardt stated that they had lost all of their friends as a result of the harassment.[5] Because of the harassment, Leonhardt was placed under police protection, and the family's home under police surveillance. Leonhardt underwent counseling for harassment.[1] In a subsequent Good Morning America interview, the family revealed that they have received harassment, including death threats.[2] In retaliation for Gawker's coverage of the case, Gawker experienced a series of DoS attacks attributed to 4chan users.[11]

After the Good Morning America interview, the television audience was given advice on how to handle cyberbullying (online bullying and harassment) from internet privacy expert Parry Aftab.[2] Aftab was subsequently subjected to harassment attributed to 4chan users in the forms of Google bombing false accusations of child sexual assault, the distribution of personal information, threatening telephone calls, and DoS attacks against her websites wiredsafety.org and aftab.com. Aftab canceled a follow-up GMA report due to air the next day because of the harassment.[14]

In Australia, advocates of internet censorship invoked the harassment to support mandatory content filtering.[15] In France, L'Express described the harassment as "ruining the life" of "an American in the midst of an adolescent crisis",[16] and France24 noted that some were using the controversy to claim that 4chan should be censored.[17]

Rumors of rape and sexual abuse by Vanity had been circulating since 2009.[9] Blood on the Dance Floor members Garrett Ecstasy, who left the band in 2009, and Jayy Von Monroe, who left the band in 2016, have described Vanity as a sexual predator.[9] Jeffree Star and New Years Day members Ash Costello and Nikki Misery have stated that they observed Vanity engage in questionable or illegal sexual behavior during one of the Vans Warped Tours and also during the "All the Rage Tour 2012" in the early 2010s.[19][20]

A YouTube video, which amassed more than a million views in the space of a few weeks, shows Slaughter sobbing while their father, Gene Leonhardt, yells at the camera in an attempt to stop trolls from contacting his child.

Nobody actually wanted to help. Nobody was concerned for me, my mental health, my safety, nothing. It still feels that way. Everyone is quick to talk about my videos and the storm that happened afterwards but not about the effects years later. Not about me. Just about Jessi Slaughter.

As for a less messed up place, no-ish? People are still awful but there is a greater awareness, like you said, and so there are more people who are at the ready to stand up to stuff and support people who are victims of internet buttholes.

D: Horribly, all of them abandoned me. One of them poured chocolate milk on me, another threw a biscuit at me once. The one who started it all punched me in the face/chest twice. Middle school was hell.

Just because you're online, just because we're somewhat grown now doesn't mean this changes. There is a person on the other end of your internet tube thingy. When you post a comment you are actually hurting someone.

I want to restart up my YouTube channel but my lack of camera or editing skills is kind of holding me back. I really want to make videos again, not just in vlog style, but educating [people] about issues that are dear to me.

And I want to join up with diversity and LGBTQA+ groups and panels at conventions and do that as I am native, as well as my other stuff. Ultimately I want to do music and voice acting. I want to meet people and go places and live freely and happily.

We all probably did a few embarrassing things when we were 11-years-old that we'd rather forget, and most of us take comfort in knowing that our awkward days are long gone with perhaps only a school photo as the only lasting evidence.

In 2010, a video of Damien (then Jessi) became wildly popular, and turned the adolescent into a meme. Shot from a web camera, the video is perhaps best known for dad Gene Leonhardt (now deceased) pointing a finger to the camera, threatening Jessi's internet tormentors, and bellowing over Jessi's sobs,

"YOU BUNCH OF LYING, NO GOOD PUNKS ... I KNOW WHO IT'S COMING FROM, BECAUSE I BACK-TRACED IT ... YOU'VE BEEN REPORTED TO THE CYBER POLICE ... YOU'LL BE ARRESTED. END OF CONVERSATION ... IF YOU COME NEAR MY DAUGHTER, GUESS WHAT? CONSEQUENCES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME."

Damien was targeted by trolls because of a rumor fueled by MySpace and Stickam (a livestreaming video platform) that they had hooked up with singer Dahvie Vanity of the emo band Blood On The Dance Floor. Vanity was 25-years-old at the time.

The trolls attacked Damien with a barrage of slut-shaming that would not cease. Damien denied the rumors then, and in the BuzzFeed interview, refused to discuss them at all. Damien, now 17, is trying to move on. They are active on Tumblr, where you can ask Damien a question. But they haven't forgotten what happened 6 years ago.

A study published in 2015 on Lancet Psychiatry assessed the long-term mental health of bullied children using findings from two separate cohorts, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the UK (ALSPAC), and the Great Smoky Mountains Study in the USA (GSMS). They found that children who were both "maltreated" and "bullied" were more likely to face depression, anxiety, and acts of self-harm as young adults.

Some of Leonhardt's experiences are documented on their Instagram. In one photo, Damien is standing in front of a grazing cow and appears happy, eyes lined with black winged liner, mouth open in a big smile, their upper lip accented with a lip ring, and streaks of pink defiantly peeking out of a ponytail.

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