http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/us/int...html?hpt=hp_c1
Fort Worth, Texas (CNN) -- An internet troll reviled for his pornographic posts on Reddit and recently revealed as a middle-aged software programmer told CNN that he made "a huge mistake."
For years, 49-year-old Michael Brutsch hid behind the online screen name "Violentacrez," creating hundreds of subforums on the user-generated website, such as "Rapebait," "Incest," "Pics of Dead Kids," "Choke a Bitch," and "Rape Jokes." "Violentacrez" has been banned from the site several times, although Brutsch still maintains a separate account.
Last week, Gawker revealed the identity of "Violentacrez," whose posts generated as many as 800,000 subscribers and triggered a debate about whether Reddit was criminally liable for the content of its forums. Reddit is a website where the popularity of posts -- and whether they are featured prominently on the site's main page -- is determined by registered users' votes.
Days after the Gawker article, Brutsch agreed to talk exclusively to CNN on camera at a hotel room in Fort Worth, about six miles from the home. He said his employer fired him after the Gawker article. He had worked there for seven years.
"One of the problems that came around and bit me in the ass was that I didn't really think about what I was doing," Brutsch told CNN. "And I didn't listen to people when they said, 'You really shouldn't do this.'"
Brutsch -- who is married, with a stepdaughter as well as a son and a stepson who are both in the U.S. military -- told CNN he started out posting "mostly soft-core porn," such as "pictures of naked girls, that sort of thing."
Fort Worth, Texas (CNN) -- An internet troll reviled for his pornographic posts on Reddit and recently revealed as a middle-aged software programmer told CNN that he made "a huge mistake."
For years, 49-year-old Michael Brutsch hid behind the online screen name "Violentacrez," creating hundreds of subforums on the user-generated website, such as "Rapebait," "Incest," "Pics of Dead Kids," "Choke a Bitch," and "Rape Jokes." "Violentacrez" has been banned from the site several times, although Brutsch still maintains a separate account.
Last week, Gawker revealed the identity of "Violentacrez," whose posts generated as many as 800,000 subscribers and triggered a debate about whether Reddit was criminally liable for the content of its forums. Reddit is a website where the popularity of posts -- and whether they are featured prominently on the site's main page -- is determined by registered users' votes.
Days after the Gawker article, Brutsch agreed to talk exclusively to CNN on camera at a hotel room in Fort Worth, about six miles from the home. He said his employer fired him after the Gawker article. He had worked there for seven years.
"One of the problems that came around and bit me in the ass was that I didn't really think about what I was doing," Brutsch told CNN. "And I didn't listen to people when they said, 'You really shouldn't do this.'"
Brutsch -- who is married, with a stepdaughter as well as a son and a stepson who are both in the U.S. military -- told CNN he started out posting "mostly soft-core porn," such as "pictures of naked girls, that sort of thing."
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