Among the most bizarre internet mysteries of recent times is the identity of the user behind the Instagram account smartschoolboy9. Believed to be running a 'rabbit hole' of several accounts posting edited images of minors and photos of real children, internet sleuths have identified the man as 59-year-old David Alter.
The issue first came to light when an Instagram user noticed similar edited images of minors and photos of real children in a series of Instagram accounts and posted it on Reddit. Subsequently, a subreddit was created and people started digging and accumulating information on the person behind the accounts. It was found that all of the accounts were linked to smartschoolboy9 – an Instagram account of an adult posting images with their face painted white, wearing a school uniform and high heels.
However, it is important to note that no verified information on the user exists. All of the information has been found from clues on the users' posts and shared on Reddit.
Meanwhile, a series of recent rumours surfaced that someone by the name of 'David Walter Alter' was either driven out of Doncaster for inappropriate behavior or was arrested in the South Yorkshire City, as per a report by the entertainment website, Dexerto. Users claimed that Alter or Walter used to live in Doncaster before moving to Streatham, London, the report said.
Despite the claims, no official, verified documents about the arrest exist, as has been pointed out by Nick Crowley, in his documentary 'smartschoolboy9: An Internet Rabbit Hole'. In this 27-minute compilation of all the available information on the case, Crowley delves into the origin of the story, how internet sleuths identified the person as David Alter, and whether he was arrested or not.
Crowley says “over a dozen” similar accounts, all of them following each other, perhaps to make them appear more legitimate, were found. They were also found to be interacting with other children. In some of the photos, it was found that the user might have taken photos of real children himself. There were also photos of the person outside the schools, including a video of chasing a child, which was captioned “Chasing another boy in high-heeled mini boots,” according to the Dexerto report.