Platner Kept a Profile on a Messaging App That Has Been a Playground for Predators for Years

If there is one thing that Graham Platner's Senate campaign has taught us, it's that every time people think they've hit the bottom of the opposition research barrel, the bottom is deeper still.

Over the course of this campaign, Mainers have learned about Platner's public restroom chicken-choking self-gratification habits, his phone-sex adventures on a network that was compromised by the Taliban, and his apparent emotional investment in a Thailand prostitution tax loophole. Most candidates spend campaign season talking about jobs, inflation, and national security. Platner has spent it providing material that sounds like it was rejected by the writers of a dark cable comedy.

Now comes another revelation.

According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, Platner maintained an account on Kik, the anonymous messaging platform that has spent years battling a reputation as a haven for sexual predators and child exploitation.

The account, operating under the username phustle0331, remains active. The profile picture is a mirror selfie featuring an individual who appears to be wearing nothing more than a bath towel. The tattoos visible in the image reportedly match tattoos Platner displayed during an interview with a local ABC affiliate last October. The username also matches a private Instagram account linked to Platner, as well as the Reddit account that has already generated plenty of unwanted headlines for his campaign.

Platner later acknowledged to the Wall Street Journal that the account was his.

The account was created on June 26, 2016. By that point, Kik's reputation wasn't exactly a mystery. The platform had already become notorious for attracting predators looking to exploit children. That same year, a major sting operation led to the arrest of more than 2,600 predators. Concerns about the app became so widespread that the New York Times published an exposé detailing the dangers it posed to minors.

The issue has been especially relevant in Maine, the state Platner hopes to represent in the Senate.

Just last year, one Maine man received a sentence of 30 to 60 years for producing videos depicting the sexual abuse of children for users on the platform. Another case that surfaced in September involved a man who allegedly attended children's sporting events to obtain photographs that he later transformed into sexualized images using artificial intelligence.

Platner's Nazi tattoo

Experts estimate that roughly 70 percent of Kik users are between the ages of 13 and 24. Although the company has updated its rules to prohibit minors from using the app, there is no meaningful age-verification system in place to ensure users are actually adults. As a result, critics continue to describe the platform as a "Predator's Paradise."

Platner's campaign has insisted that he deleted the app from his phone, but apparently neglected to deactivate the account itself. They were apparently more concerned with him being embarrassed if the app was still there, than the idea that he is still on the platform. 

With the primary election only days away, Platner remains the favorite to secure the Democratic nomination, because, of course he is. If he does get the nomination, he is expected to face incumbent [RINO] Republican Senator Susan Collins in November in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.

At this point, every new revelation about Platner feels less like opposition research and more like another installment in a series that nobody asked for, but everyone is reading anyway. He is disgusting, but he's Democrat disgusting and for that Party, it's okay.

Thank you for following Brain Flushings. Please take time to simply check out the sponsors on this page--it's one way to support my work and you don't need to purchase anything to do so. Of course, you can Buy Me A Coffee if you want to support me directly. And finally, don't be afraid to subscribe if you enjoy the blog--it's free, and worth the cost.

Tweet