Man facing criminal charge after allegedly impersonating nonprofit executive on Facebook

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - A Wood County man is facing an identity theft charge and a civil lawsuit, after allegedly creating a fake Facebook profile to impersonate the executive director of the nonprofit Lucas County Pit Crew, Jean Keating.

The lawsuit, filed in Lucas County Common Pleas, claims an employee at Lucas County Canine Care and Control, David Dubois, created and operated the fake account. According to the lawsuit, the account made false and misleading posts about Keating and Lucas County Pit Crew.

The lawsuit also lists two unnamed defendants, the operators of a Facebook group called “Lucas County Pit Crew Dogs Deserve Better.”

“I jumped on Facebook and then I see a replica of myself, my name, you know, my dog, that everybody knows me by,” Keating said. “Every single day, can you imagine waking up and wondering: did the fake me do something last night on Facebook?”

Keating said she first became aware of the account in late August; days earlier Lucas County Canine Care and Control, LC4, had come under public scrutiny for an employee’s alleged mistreatment of dogs caught on security footage.

A GoFundMe page which appears to be organized by Dubois reads, in part:

“In the course of defending my shelter and co-workers against rabble-rousers and a very vocal minority of people with unrealistic expectations, I’ve traded words with a local operation called The Lucas County Pit Crew. And their director, Jean Keating, seemingly didn’t like what I had to say, and while many other people said a lot of things, they thought I deserved to be sued over it. Now I do disagree and deny most of the claims that are in the complaint but that has to be settled with a judge.”

The page, which claims to be raising money for Dubois’ legal fees, has raised $2,000. Dubois’ lawyer declined to comment on this story, citing pending litigation.

“I don’t think you understand how difficult this is when you steal someone’s identity like that and this needs to stop,” Keating said, adding the lawsuit feels like a necessity. “I have no other way of getting assurance that that profile is gone.”

The lawsuit says the Sylvania Police Department investigated the fake profile and determined it was likely created by Dubois.

Dubois is due to appear in Sylvania Municipal Court next month.

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