Blabbermouth owner pulls website after firestorm - KCTV5
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A Johnson County man has taken down a website where he posted mugshots of people arrested in Johnson County and charged up to $200 to remove them.
The Kansas City Star, KCTV5's reporting partner, reports that 30-year-old Matthew Creed, of Shawnee, said he received death threats over the site he called blabbermouthkc.com.
Creed contacted KCTV5 Friday night to say that he did not shut down the site. He said the newspaper misquoted him.
"It is going to be intermittently up and down while changes are made to the site based off comments, suggestions and feedback received by the public," Creed said.
He said he anticipates posting mugshots again in two weeks.
Blabbermouthkc.com is not your typical website. It features mug shots along with home addresses of those booked by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office.
Creed's two-month-old website featured a map of the bistate Kansas City area with dots showing the Kansas or Missouri hometowns of people arrested in Johnson County. Clicking on the dots brought up the mugshots and addresses of people arrested - whether or not they were ever formally charged, much less convicted.
Some of the photos were of people arrested for such infractions as being a minor in possession of tobacco or driving with expired registration.
Some critics called Creed's business extortion or high-tech blackmail.
"The whole thing is about extortion. It's not about a moral value, if it was he wouldn't charge $199 to take care of it or get rid of it," Erik Radzins with KCSR.org said last month.
Creed had initially vowed to keep the site going.
To read previous coverage of this issue, click here.
Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) and Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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