By Erica Morse
Editor-in-Chief, Victims News Online
Originally published 3:00 p.m., Feb. 4, 2013
Updated 3:45 p.m., Feb. 4, 2013
Updated 10:35 p.m., Feb. 4, 2013
Editor’s note: a comment from a reader named “Bruce” has been removed from this article as a result of the police department’s subsequent response regarding this situation.
(VNO) — A Facebook page which is garnering hundreds of “likes” by the minute may be a hoax.
The page, which includes the name of an allegedly-accused child abuser, was created on the social media site approximately 15 hours ago. The pages features a picture of a child, allegedly badly beaten by a man, with a photo of the alleged abuser in the inset. According to the admin(s) of this page, the man has fled the state of Louisiana and is currently being sought for questioning by authorities.
The page is gaining momentum by the hour; however, many are questioning the validity of the situation as a whole, as information being supplied on the website appears to be “fishy”, according to some readers.
Snopes.com, which is the premiere online authority for debunking online hoaxes, is currently listing the situation as “undetermined”, as of this morning.
Additionally, no officials in Louisiana can confirm these claims, either. Calls to the Louisiana State Police Public Information Office are being re-routed to an answering machine, and the phones at the Walker, LA, Police Department — the agency allegedly investigating this situation — are not being answered at all.
Stay with Victims News Online for further updates as they become available.
Victims News Online 
has anyone seen it on the NEWS.. and not internet news but actual local or national news?
Not to our knowledge.
I live in South Arkansas, 10 minutes from the Louisiana line and I have not seen it on any news station here.
If this is not true it needs to be stopped. There are people threatining to kill this guy if they see him. Please find out and let everyone know!!
Someone need to contact Facebook and have them trace the ” admin’s Ip” and Let Facebook get involved. I seen on the page where someone grew up with the alleged perp.. So the people are real. I’m just wondering if the person who made this page is just out to start trouble .. The person who started this page could be held liable for any damages and charges brought against them for starting something like this . If it is not true .
i went to the page that was sharing this info. i told the woman i was reporting her to the police for slander and she blocked me. i could not find a way to report her to FB. would like to know if there is a way to do that.
To the right of ‘message’ there is an arrow with a drop down menu. Click on ‘report page’ and follow the directions.
when you google this guy the only thing that comes up is this facebook page
Really ? How do you think I got here ? It’s also on Snopes
I understand people’s passion for wanting something done. However, this child has parents, grandparents, family friends or someone in their life that “should” be able to confirm this, so the officials can do their jobs in a timely and professional manner. If this is a hoax, a lot of time, energy and manpower is being abused and misused and wasted on someone’s sick pleasure. There might actually be a child in need, all the while-this is burning up social media. So-people either need to be responsible and step up, or sit down and shut up. And lastly, IF this is a hoax, I hope whoever started this, pays dearly. Please pray for ALL abused children. I pray this ends well.
The ” admin ” of this page sgned her name Michele Rust on one of the posts. Please look into her name and maybe even give it to Facebook.
I called Walker,LA Police Dept. at 5pm and was told that they are investigating a report of this and that is all that she was allowed to tell me. I told her that I had been told on here that it was a Hoax and she assured me it was being investigated. So that is what I was told!!
I only question the fact that they describe the cars make and model but not a license plate number. If this is a hoax, the person who started it should be prosecuted especially if something happens to this guy and he’s innocent.
Don’t expect it to be on the local or national TV news, it is a daily occurance throughout the world so not really news, except that it is tragic for the victim and those who have to go through it. As for questioning the police departments involved, they can not by law tell you much, possibly not even what charges or persons involved. Until after the fact, then it is public record.
Melanie Dennison????? Her name ????
Yes that is the “alleged Moms name”.
https://www.facebook.com/kristina.d.ambrose
This person posted as the aunt of the child. Its not a new account. I heard about it via a share off this woman’s page.
I posted legitimate questions on the FB creator’s page after very vulgar aggressive language was used by the creator of the page…the creator of the page deleted any comments I made that had questions that were sincerely legit..that a child has been beaten and that nothing was credible. I was blocked from the page. In my opinion..whoever created the page has something to do with hurting that child. I made the comment that charges should be made against whoever made the page and that comment was deleted. It seemed to really rub them wrong when I suggested that the language was AGGRESSIVE and foul making me wonder what the truth of the story was. My comments about the safety of the child where also deleted.
Em…..all mine were also blocked and deleted. I checked because I also have another FB account and was able to comment….I am furious and very worried about this little girl. I hope they figure this out and let the millions of us who seen this know the truth !
They did the same thing to me!
I was blocked as well.
They have done that to everyone who posted any comment not to their liking. The page has been taken down now, although one woman who claimed to be an aunt, thanked people for the over 500 friend requests she had gotten.
the page has not been taken down Help Find Dusty Wes Edwards-CHILD Abuser
i also was blocked when i advised i would be calling LA state police. snopes.com has advised they could not validate the claims and is quite possibly a hoax. they contacted LA state police and there is no record of the incident. and as far as someones comment of how the police cannot release info. that is incorrect. if the man is wanted, they will absolutely tell you if the man was wanted.
The man in the picture is very much a real person that has lived in my town in Arkansas for years, he was my neighbor and was ALWAYS helpful and nice. Not saying that people can’t do things behind closed doors, but I just don’t see it happening with this guy…anyone you ask about him that knows him will say the same thing. It’s a tragedy that all of these people are threatening his life and they don’t know anything other than what is being posted on a Facebook page..if he was a danger, don’t you think it would be on the news to find him?? IF he is guilty, which again I highly doubt, then I pray justice is served..until then, this is a sad situation all around.
All posts from people have been removed. The page is still up.
Know Dusty very well but have not seen him the last year. But I can’t imagine him doing something like this. I truly hope it’s a cruel hoax and if so whoever is behind it should be charged.
i guess i was blocked also………..i wanted to know if the children were with CPS, as would be standard procedure while investigating child abuse…
Look up Dustin Carr from Memphis, TN on facebook. One of his friends is Melanie Dennison(the alleged mother of the abused child) and the child is the cover photo. More things to make one think it is a hoax!
This is utter crap. I’m getting tired of seeing the picture posted everywhere on the internet. I know its a hoax because I saw that same picture almost a year ago!
I grew up with Dusty, we went to elementary school together. I didn’t have any classes with him, but everyone knew him. I find this story hard to believe, and everything that is happening now makes it even harder to believe. I think I posted two comments on the page neither positive nor negative and now I can’t get on the page. It seems like a lot of the family is now blocking their pages or deleted them. It does seem that the page is now down. I saw on a previous story on this page that dustys facebook page couldn’t be validated. He did in fact have a page, it has been deactivated. Something definately happened to this child and I hope she is ok. Sadly I have a feeling it has something to do with the mom. I hope everyone is ok. I hope you guys keep up with the story and let us know if it’s true or not since it seems most of us can’t find anything anymore on facebook.
Dawn, thank you for your comment. Has anyone been able to make contact with Dusty regarding this situation? The police would tell us nothing about whether or not he was even a suspect, and we were also concerned for his safety, based on the threats that were flying around that page.
Not that I know of. Several of us that grew up with him are in shock. But as far as I know no one has talked to him. His account has been deactivated. I have a feeling it is all fake. If a child abuser was on the run and it has made this much noise there would be a news report on it somewhere. I do hope he is ok as well. I am sure he is with family somewhere and staying quiet. I also believe this was the girlfriend getting revenge for some reason. If I hear of anything I will definitely share it with you!
We appreciate your comments, and wish the best to all involved who were harmed/victimized by these claims. Please let Dusty know that if he wants to set the record straight at any time, he has a platform to do so.
The FB page has apparently been taken down. I checked with another FB account I have and it’s not there. The more I read about this the more I think this was possibly a work of revenge, maybe an ex-girlfriend. This is a good thing for all of us to remember. Before sharing anything like this, check it out first.
I know a friend that is currently talking to the guy in the photos.. He says that he is not wanted and that the mom is the one who beat the child while he was at work. He is Baton Rouge as we speak.. Not Arkansas. According to him he is at the police station right now getting everything straightened out.. Rather I believe what he is saying or not I can not be for sure.. But the whole situation is sketchy.. He says that they broke up and he went to stay at his parents house in Ferriday Louisiana and was there when he started seeing these postings on Facebook.. I’m not sure if he is telling the truth or not. Or even what to do about it, but I am hoping that he is telling the truth and is turning him self in right now.. He says taht he will probably go to jail and then be bailed out and have to go to court..
My opinion on the subject is to not trust social media as your only reiable surce. If an alleged child abuser is on the loose I would not recommend feeding into facebook chaos or allowing someone who has possibly posted this to recieve attention. Get your facts. If your concerned about yourself or families saftey call a news or police station. To rely on facebook as your only source for news, well your probably as foolish as people who have 10 year long relationships online with someone they have never met.
Reporting on a dangerous situation is not “feeding into Facebook chaos;” it’s reporting on a matter that has generated a lot of discussion and attention. That is what the media does. If no one had reported on this situation, then we (collectively) would have blamed for ignoring it.
Well I believe we will have to agree to disagree here. I would not recommend making Facebook your prime source to report anything other than a bad pedicure on. Thats why newspapers and News Channels still report to the community on these issues. Response and disscusion are what we use facebook for. Its an originally college based website for the record. Anyways I take any victim story as serious as the next person but this clearly was no such exmple. There driving home my point Media is not closed related in these sorts of issues like social media and espically Facebook simply is NOT as reliable as true media soucres on this peroid. And how and who exactly would point the finger at you? Pretty sure that unless you commited a crime or knew of abuse and did nothing your innocent…. pretty cut and dry…
This could be a ticked off person who hates her sister’s boyfriend and is using a pic of the kid from after she ate it on the pavement playing at the park to get revenge. If it is real that’s sad. If a hoax she needs to be punished.
https://www.vinelink.com/vinelink/detailsAction.do?siteId=19000&agency=15&id=871&searchType=offender He has been arrested
The child’s name is Jewel, looks like a boy to me, but not the point, I clicked the link that went with it and it sent me back to my profile page. So I hope it isn’t a hacker.
Ok here’s a question, IF you were looking for someone who stole your drugs or owed you money, how would you find them and in doing so have people riled enough to maybe hurt the man so you wouldn’t have to?
From the looks of the Police Dept Facebook he was arrested & charged with abuse of a Juvenile
Dusty is in custody now.. https://www.vinelink.com/vinelink/detailsAction.do?siteId=19000&agency=15&id=871&searchType=offender
I really feel for this woman now….She was telling the truth…Dusty Wes Edwards is now in custody !!!!!
http://www.examiner.com/article/man-at-center-of-alleged-child-abuse-controversy-has-been-arrested
Actually you idiots! This has been confirmed and he has been arrested! Shame on you!
http://www.examiner.com/article/man-at-center-of-alleged-child-abuse-controversy-has-been-arrested
Our readers and writers are not “idiots” for questioning a situation that was full of gaping holes. That was made clear in the article link you posted — which was also written by me — and also appears on the blog under which you commented.
Actually, one of your readers kept threatening the administrator of the page that she was reporting her for slander to the police. With no knowledge of whether or not it was true. I agree with Jamie, that’s pretty idiotic. An innocent child was beaten, the abuser was running free, and the family that was trying to get her justice were being called liars. I am all for knowing the truth before jumping to conclusions, but Ceri was only interested in not jumping to conclusions about the man who ACTUALLY DID IT and not about the aunt who was heartbroken and trying to find him.
it is true and he was arrested on 2/6/13. http://www.examiner.com/article/man-at-center-of-alleged-child-abuse-controversy-has-been-arrested
He was arrested and snopes now confirmed it. the story was real http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/edwards.asp