On Sketchbook, administrative action is usually initiated at the behest of a player. Logs are provided to us by the player, and concensus among the staff is taken and suitable recompense administered. However from time to time, if reasonable suspicion is raised, we are forced to take action and launch investigations. This case is one such instance. While investigating the account Donnervogel which was revealed to be an alternate account of the previously banned Jonny, PM logs had discovered some disturbing communications between Donnervogel and FrightNight. The administration team unanimously agreed to open an investigation into FrightNight to see if that was a one off situation or not, and unfortunately, it was revealed that he had, in fact, undertaken such inappropriate behaviour with multiple children on the game.
This report will show that FrightNight engaged in unsavoury communications with minors on the game. The report will use samples of messages between FrightNight and his various victims to support this, however with the names of the victims redacted for privacy reasons. The report will also show testimonies of some of his victims, and their thoughts and outlooks regarding the messages.
As mentioned in the introduction of this report, we interviewed several players to get their side of the story. We spoke to 14 players ranging between the ages of eleven (11) and nineteen (19). Of the 14 we spoke to, 5 of them said that they found no wrong doing or inappropriate action from Fright Night, while the remaining 8 said they found his actions concerning or suspicious. A common theme among many of the interviewed was a fear of upsetting him or many of his associates. In other words, the fear of social isolation. They also stated that they thought failure to respond to his messages would be considered rude or hurt him emotionally. However in order to support the assertions we made, we will provide transcripts of some conversations we had with some of the affected targets with their names replaced with aliases for privacy.
John Dogh when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “so. I do trust him quite a lot, but I feel like he does say it quite a bit. We have been chatting for a while and I do trust him with what I say but he does say those things quite a lot and sometimes, it does make me feel uncomfortable.”
John Dough following up his previous message: “I know that he has been through quite a lot and I support him with that but the constant I love you, hugs, etc. is a bit, um, questionable. I feel a bit rude not to say it back. And that message confused me quite a bit to, made me feel like I don’t want to chat to him for a while, a little break.”
John Dough at the conclusion of the interview: “also, he once said,”hopefully one day we can meet in alaska” I found this uncomfortable”
John Q when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “some stuff used too, yeah. Like, why a bit after we started talking over pm he started saying hugs and bro and all this stuff”
John Q following up his previous message: “I feel kinda weird responding with that stuff, but I can’t be like, ehh, dude that’s kinda weird this far on because I’ve already said it.”
John Q after further discussions: “I just hope he doesn’t turn people against me or anything one day.”
John Smith when being asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “so all I was going to say was no, because if he had, I would have told him to quit it, and he knows that, I am cloce to him as a friend and nothing else. Inshort, he has done nothing from my point of view and you will all be in formed if he has done so”
John Snow when being asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “I mean he’s been a nice guy to me. The messages constantly like wanna hang out and bro bro stuff is kinda weird to me at least. But I still like the guy.”
John Snow when asked by an interviewer, “Do you find his constantly wanting to hug you and say he loves you to be weird and wrong?”:
“It’s kinda ong yeah. Now that I thinink abbot it”
John Rolph when asked if Frightnight made him feel uncomfortable: “appsalootly not. fright has always been a good person to me and he never has done anything to hert my feelings. wile, I will say its a tiny tiny bit on the weird side that he loves calling me his brother and stuff I will say I have never had a problem with fright. at all”
An interviewer to John Rolph: “FrightNight to Name Redacted: tackles you and hugs you tightly - 12:47:37 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:37 PM”
John Rolph: “wo what the? yeah, that is the thing that fright has been doing with me. he has been saying to me hugs little bro bro, have a good day little brother I am always your boddy gard”
John James when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “just things like hmm hu do you like, calling me his brother just a fue others but only once in a wile, and name redacted said something about it that I cant remember but.”
Interviewer to John James: “I noticed he frequently tries to hug you or say that he loves you. Do you find this uncomfortable?”
John James: “yes”
John James when shown the following extract: “FrightNight to Name Redacted: tackles you and hugs you tightly - 12:47:37 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:37 PM”
John James: “seams very odd but I mean not to be rood but he sounds like maxi”
John James after further discussions: “yes, but I dont want to tell him stop, I would feal very bad”
John James following up his previous message: “dont want to make him mad or something”
John James after further discussions: “yes, but I dont want to have his friend Name redacted be anoyed or something because me and name redacted are good friends”
John Jones when asked if he is made uncomfortable by FrightNight: “he has called me butty a lot yes”
Interviewer to John Jones: “I’ve read a lot of logs so I can’t really remember, does he ever try to hug you a lot, say he loves you, etc?”
John Jones: “he just sez hugs a lot to me”
John Jones when asked if that makes him feel uncomfortable: “I do”
John Jones after a period of silence from both sides: “he acts very weard when I talk to him in voice so I have to allways mute and channel message in stead”
John Peter when asked if FrightNight makes him feel uncomfortable: “no, he seemed normal to me. just the way he always talks? though we did talk less than we did before”
Interviewer to John Peter: “It may seem normal for him to do it but the way he says Hugs or says he loves you, did he do that a lot, and did it make you feel weird?”
John Peter: “no. he didn’t say that a lot, at least to me. I believe, unless my memory is failing me. I don’t mind it honestly”
John Pershing when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “he didn’t do anything odd he was just, overly-friendly. He said at one point he could be a male mentor/ roll model”
John Belle when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “Know. He’s never messaged me with any stuff like that. And if we do talk it’s for a very short time, and he usually just asks me how I’m doing.”
John Belle when showed the following extract: “FrightNight to Name Redacted: tackles you and hugs you tightly - 12:47:37 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:37 PM”
John Belle: “Oh. I mean he has sent me like, a few times messages that are just like, hugs. But I didn’t really see it as creapy or anything because we were talking about stuff that was happening with me and stuff. I’ve always seen him as a positive person so idk”
John Belle in a Private Message to a member of staff after the interview: “Oh sorry, I did forget to mention, in that combersation we had a while back, to give you context I was just telling him a bunch of stuff I thought about myself. It’s kinda been interesting life, and at the end of it he gave me his number, and he was like, I can be your mentor and stuff like that. I didn’t take it, because that I am a bit hesatent of, but yeah.”
John Dean when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “no, he is actualy a good friend of mine, he when he says thoes things, is simply trying to give out positave vibes. He says them to adults to. I’ve seen him say them.”
John Dean when shown the following extract: “FrightNight to Name Redacted: tackles you and hugs you tightly - 12:47:37 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:37 PM”
John Dean: “ya, that’s normal for him”
Interviewer to John Dean: “But that’s not normal, dude. He should not be saying these things to young boys like that. Let me put it in this perspective: If he did these things to you in real life, would you, or your parents, find it normal?”
John Dean: “no, if we new him it would not be. Also that again is normal for him, he hates people like that with a passion.”
John Dean following up his previous response: “he has litterly protected yong kids from peddas like maxie”
Interviewer responding to the previous 2 messages from John Dean: “Yes but the ironic thing is he’s doing exactly what they’re doing. He’s building your trust and making you think that that’s just a part of his personality. If it’s not okay to do in real life, it’s not okay to do virtually. You are a minor and you are far from the only person he has done this to. I just want you to know that it’s not right. It may be normal for him, but it’s not normal.”
John Dean responding to the Interviewer: “dood, he is not doing that. He has to much of a life for that.”
John Lambert when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “IDK. He’s been a little strange ever since I met him several months ago. We didn’t talk too much on Sketchbook but I talked to him in other places. A common thing among people that have been abused in some way is that they just are so used to it that they don’t see it like that. So that could be it? Then there are cultural differences too. You would be surprised about the things that people from some cultures say. They would be seen as really strange here.”
Interviewer responding to the previous message: “Sure but he is also American.”
John Lambert: “this is true”
Interviewer to John Lambert: “Have you seen him be inappropriate to anyone specifically?” – “personally rather”
John Lambert: “I can’t think of any specific examples off of the top of my head. He hasn’t really done anything or said anything to me that I personally considered to be too weird. But he doesn’t act the same towards me as he does with others. It’s mainly kinds that he talks to and there are a lot of them. I will say that’s the first observation I made that made me think something twas off.”
Interviewer to John Lambert: “kids?” – “he mainly talks to kids”
John Lambert in response to interviewer: “Yes, majority younger than me I’d say. I’ll be 17 in November”
John George when asked if FrightNight made him feel uncomfortable: “no”
Interviewer to John George: “FrightNight to Name Redacted: tackles you and hugs you tightly”
John George: “is fine to me”
John Walker when asked if he noticed strange behaviour from FrightNight: “He has. Not in a way I could prove, and while others were with me at the time, I feel it unwise to use their names unless instructed to. I was on a teamtalk server, I will not state which one, with two other people. He has been known to server hop, in which he will check several teamtalk servers to which he has accounts, see who is on, greet them, and then leave. I found it strange, but harmless, perhaps there was no ill intent in that in particular. He comes onto servers, and, I don’t know if it’s just how he says it, but for a while I’ve been getting… Strange… Vibes from it. Nothing concrete, and like Isaid, nothing which could be precisely damning, but just… Strange. He uses voice, and weather it’s something in his voice or what it is precisely it just felt a bit strange. Several people whom I might consider myself friends with have spoken to him, he has spoken to them, and… Like I said it felt strange. He has, and I didn’t find this strange at the time, expressed warnings to us regarding pedophiles, specifically maxi. Not to say that is related, but I found it strange that he felt the need to bring this up to us, at what felt entirely like absolutely nowhere. Out of the several people whom I was speaking to at the time and over a series of days, some from the ages of 13 to 15 or thereabouts, only one out of that entire group found his behavior at all strange, and without stating who he is he has had… Shall we say… Encounters with people of that type and so noticed that something seemed just a bit wrong. I don’t have any evidence, at least nothing textual, and my teamtalk was not recording at the time so I could not present evidence. If you require them though, One of the people who was there for several of these has been known to record suspicious events in the past for server administration/punishment, and so if it were necisary in an administrative capacity he may be able to present audio evidence”
Interviewer to John Walker: “Have you seen anything like this, either in text or voice? FrightNight to Name Redacted: tackles you and hugs you tightly - 12:47:37 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:37 PM”
John Walker in response to Interviewer: “Not that I remember. It’s more a feeling of… Wrongness… More than outright messages or words he’s said”
John Walker following up his previous message: “I could never place it but just felt like something wasn’t right there”
John Walker: “this other person felt the same, and upon mentioning it was met with, he’s fine, he’s cool leave him alone”
IN addition to the testimonials you have read, we have compiled a series of messages that serves as our main form of evidence. The messages are from the month of August. Note: the aliases of the targets will not remain the same as in the previous section, so as to maintain anonymity. Also certain aspects of the conversation have been omitted for privacy.
FrightNight to John Rolph: give me tight hugs. always here for you - 3:55:11 PM 8/15/2023, 3:55:11 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: my amazing dude - 3:55:17 PM 8/15/2023, 3:55:17 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: huge hugs :p - 3:55:45 PM 8/15/2023, 3:55:45 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: love you little bro bro - 3:56:09 PM 8/15/2023, 3:56:09 PM
FrightNight to John Walker: there you go little bro. love you! - 4:32:18 PM 8/12/2023, 4:32:18 PM
John Walker to FrightNight: Love you too; thanks! - 4:32:31 PM 8/12/2023, 4:32:31 PM
FrightNight to John Walker: always, buddy. - 4:32:39 PM 8/12/2023, 4:32:39 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: doing a little better. had my radio show yesterday. had date night with Name redacted. been getting my mind in a better place. we recently got a tedmill too, so, i’m working out every day. - 12:46:24 PM 8/12/2023, 12:46:24 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: tredmill - 12:46:31 PM 8/12/2023, 12:46:31 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: nice one man! good to work out - 12:46:39 PM 8/12/2023, 12:46:39 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: that’s great to here - 12:47:07 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:07 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: how’s my little bro bro? - 12:47:27 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:27 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: tackles you and hugs you tightly - 12:47:37 PM 8/12/2023, 12:47:37 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: hugs hugs! doing great. just enjoying being on holiday really - 12:48:03 PM 8/12/2023, 12:48:03 PM
__________FrightNight to John Rolph: I am about to actually log back out to get a shower, grab a little grub, and get ready for a YouTube stream. :D - 12:51:05 PM 8/12/2023, 12:51:05 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: sure sure sure sure sure - 12:51:16 PM 8/12/2023, 12:51:16 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: love you man - 12:51:19 PM 8/12/2023, 12:51:19 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: I love you too - 12:51:24 PM 8/12/2023, 12:51:24 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: your the best bro bro <3 - 12:51:41 PM 8/12/2023, 12:51:41 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: your the best bigest bro bro - 12:52:11 PM 8/12/2023, 12:52:11 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: biggest - 12:52:15 PM 8/12/2023, 12:52:15 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: awww. you make me smile all the time. - 12:52:31 PM 8/12/2023, 12:52:31 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: glad I have you in the good times and the really hard ones. - 12:52:44 PM 8/12/2023, 12:52:44 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: a - 12:52:45 PM 8/12/2023, 12:52:45 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: same to you man. love you! - 12:52:56 PM 8/12/2023, 12:52:56 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: love you! - 12:53:08 PM 8/12/2023, 12:53:08 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: have fun in life! and, enjoy it! - 12:53:31 PM 8/12/2023, 12:53:31 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: you too kiddo. remember, your my sidekick, and I am yours! we got this! - 12:53:51 PM 8/12/2023, 12:53:51 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: team. :D - 12:53:59 PM 8/12/2023, 12:53:59 PM
John Rolph to FrightNight: yeeeeeha - 12:54:02 PM 8/12/2023, 12:54:02 PM
FrightNight to John Rolph: hugs you - 12:54:09 PM 8/12/2023, 12:54:09 PM
John Peter to FrightNight: good night older bro, love you and hugs - 12:59:47 AM 8/10/2023, 12:59:47 AM
FrightNight to John Peter: love you more! hugs - 1:00:10 AM 8/10/2023, 1:00:10 AM
John Peter to FrightNight: well its still good to check up you know - 1:42:14 PM 8/9/2023, 1:42:14 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: but, moving forward - 1:42:15 PM 8/9/2023, 1:42:15 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: yeah. of course. that’s what makes you a good brother - 1:42:27 PM 8/9/2023, 1:42:27 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: love you - 1:42:31 PM 8/9/2023, 1:42:31 PM
John Peter to FrightNight: love you too older bro, I know I have not been checking up for a while but I promisse I will try to check up more often - 1:43:00 PM 8/9/2023, 1:43:00 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: holds you tightly - 1:43:12 PM 8/9/2023, 1:43:12 PM
John Peter to FrightNight: hugs my older bro - 1:44:13 PM 8/9/2023, 1:44:13 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: I know we pick on each other a lot, but, on a serious note, i’m always gonna love you younger bro. means everything to me that you check on me through this process. I appreciate you - 1:44:55 PM 8/9/2023, 1:44:55 PM
John Peter to FrightNight: I know you don’t mean your jokes and they are just jokes older bro, and I appreciate you as well. love you older bro! - 1:45:38 PM 8/9/2023, 1:45:38 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: I love you too. with all my heart. - 1:45:48 PM 8/9/2023, 1:45:48 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: gonna go now. - 1:45:54 PM 8/9/2023, 1:45:54 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: hugs you - 1:45:57 PM 8/9/2023, 1:45:57 PM
John Peter to FrightNight: hugs my older bro, stay safe - 1:46:08 PM 8/9/2023, 1:46:08 PM
John Dean to FrightNight: hey come on my server with me and Name Redacted - 9:17:39 AM 8/9/2023, 9:17:39 AM
FrightNight to John Dean: okay - 9:17:44 AM 8/9/2023, 9:17:44 AM
FrightNight to John Dean: hugs - 9:23:33 AM 8/9/2023, 9:23:33 AM
John Dean to FrightNight: hugs - 9:23:43 AM 8/9/2023, 9:23:43 AM
John Rolph to FrightNight: how are youuuuuu? - 5:29:01 AM 8/2/2023, 5:29:01 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: I’m awesome. back in Alaska now. missed you! - 5:29:12 AM 8/2/2023, 5:29:12 AM
John Rolph to FrightNight: missed you man - 5:29:29 AM 8/2/2023, 5:29:29 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: holds my brother tight what you up to - 5:29:41 AM 8/2/2023, 5:29:41 AM
John Rolph to FrightNight: guess… - 5:30:00 AM 8/2/2023, 5:30:00 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: wait - 5:30:08 AM 8/2/2023, 5:30:08 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: I know this one - 5:30:11 AM 8/2/2023, 5:30:11 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: harth. f’f’f’f’f’f’f’f’f’f’f’fuckin stone? - 5:30:21 AM 8/2/2023, 5:30:21 AM
John Rolph to FrightNight: yeeeeeeeeeees! new update is so fuckin awesome - 5:30:32 AM 8/2/2023, 5:30:32 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: yay! so glad to hear - 5:30:37 AM 8/2/2023, 5:30:37 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: love you bro bro. - 5:32:33 AM 8/2/2023, 5:32:33 AM
John Rolph to FrightNight: love you - 5:32:54 AM 8/2/2023, 5:32:54 AM
FrightNight to John Rolph: tt buddy? - 5:32:58 AM 8/2/2023, 5:32:58 AM
John Rolph to FrightNight: not right now sorry. doing some stuff all by myself and have to start getting ready soon, going to the airport in a couple hours - 5:33:21 AM 8/2/2023, 5:33:21 AM
FrightNight to John James: hey little brother. <3 - 3:54:07 PM 8/3/2023, 3:54:07 PM
John James to FrightNight: hiii - 3:54:11 PM 8/3/2023, 3:54:11 PM
FrightNight to John James: missed you! wassup - 3:54:20 PM 8/3/2023, 3:54:20 PM
John James to FrightNight: not myuch just browsing for kontakt instruments and playing a mud - 3:54:34 PM 8/3/2023, 3:54:34 PM
FrightNight to John James: love you bro bro - 4:00:42 PM 8/3/2023, 4:00:42 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: heyyyy - 4:00:22 PM 8/8/2023, 4:00:22 PM
John Peter to FrightNight: rise up to the skies! - 4:03:47 PM 8/8/2023, 4:03:47 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: riser up my bro! - 4:03:54 PM 8/8/2023, 4:03:54 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: hugs my younger bro - 4:03:58 PM 8/8/2023, 4:03:58 PM
John Peter to FrightNight: hugs my older bro - 4:04:08 PM 8/8/2023, 4:04:08 PM
FrightNight to John Peter: love you - 4:04:21 PM 8/8/2023, 4:04:21 PM
John Q to FrightNight: oh god, they made the evaluator rang useless! The /evaluations (or /evals) command is now available to all players as /evaluate is. This means anyone can check which maps are in the evaluation queue, which aids discoverability for people who wish to run maps and suggest rewards but haven’t been rewarded the rank. - 2:53:59 PM 8/15/2023, 2:53:59 PM
FrightNight to John Q: yikes - 2:54:10 PM 8/15/2023, 2:54:10 PM
FrightNight to John Q: hugs - 2:55:28 PM 8/15/2023, 2:55:28 PM
John Q to FrightNight: hugs hugs! - 2:55:33 PM 8/15/2023, 2:55:33 PM
FrightNight to John Q: I wish - 2:55:37 PM 8/15/2023, 2:55:37 PM
John Q to FrightNight: by the way, I wanna say something. I learned lots from you the last time, about people, and beeing, and effecting and stuff. just to let you know. I often think about some of your words, and I am thankful to have you! - 2:56:11 PM 8/15/2023, 2:56:11 PM
FrightNight to John Q: you’ll always always have me. love you! - 2:56:51 PM 8/15/2023, 2:56:51 PM
John Q to FrightNight: so, - 3:08:04 PM 8/15/2023, 3:08:04 PM
FrightNight to John Q: so. - 3:08:07 PM 8/15/2023, 3:08:07 PM
John Q to FrightNight: so - 3:08:14 PM 8/15/2023, 3:08:14 PM
FrightNight to John Q: I miss you - 3:08:20 PM 8/15/2023, 3:08:20 PM
John Q to FrightNight: I miss you too. ug its middle of the night, its dark, I am lonely. I really consider oopen skype and just type. idk for what honestly but… - 3:10:14 PM 8/15/2023, 3:10:14 PM
FrightNight to John Q: awww. want me to hold you? - 3:10:31 PM 8/15/2023, 3:10:31 PM
John Q to FrightNight: hmm - 3:10:42 PM 8/15/2023, 3:10:42 PM
John Q to FrightNight: sure - 3:10:46 PM 8/15/2023, 3:10:46 PM
FrightNight to John Q: holds my bro in my arms you’re not alone - 3:10:59 PM 8/15/2023, 3:10:59 PM
Throughout this report, we have attempted to present the facts and keep our opinions out of it. The stories of the persons involved, and getting at the truth was, and still is most important to us, however, in this section members of the moderation team of Sketchbook Your World were given a chance to provide remarks based on the information collected.
As a member of the investigative team on this matter, I found myself disturbed, distressed, and even disgusted. I always knew Fright Night was a positive person. He always has tried his best to cultivate an atmosphere of acceptance and safety, at least publicly, for the most part. I am sad to have seen this kind of behavior from him. I have never wished him any ill will; I am not in the business of intentionally destroying someone’s character. But what I have seen here, no matter how you try to contextualize it, simply isn’t okay. I hope those affected negatively by this situation can gain the courage to speak up.
When I first signed up to be a Moderator, I had never expected to be working on such a case, but here we are. Over the past few days of examining logs and talking to persons affected by this ongoing situation, my response hasn’t been anger or disgust, but rather sadness and disappointment. I am saddened, because this is an experience nobody would like to go through. I am sad because so many lives will be turned upside down by this. And I’m sad because this would have likely continued unless we hadn’t brought it up. Many of the folks we spoke to, as you read, said they had reservations but were afraid to speak up for fear of upsetting a friend group or just coming across as a jerk. That’s not OK and deeply saddens me. As for disappointment, I’m disappointed by what I saw on FrightNight’s part. I will say from what I’ve seen you are, to an extent serving as a big brother role to many of these people, which is admirable and definitely needed in today’s world, however when you take up such a role or position it is important to consider the implications of the things you do or say. There are certain lines you simply do not cross and I think those lines were crossed many atimes. There is nothing wrong with giving someone a hug when they need it, or telling them they matter when they come to you and say their self-esteem is low, however when you abruptly say these things out of the blue, that is when, to me at least, your actions becomes problematic. I hope everyone affected will have the strength to move on going forward.