Six years ago, a small mistake by Wisconsin authorities had enormous consequences. As reported by CBC, back in 2020, while trying to track down a suspect accused of child luring and possessing child pornography, police focused on a Kik username inspired by the famous Fus Ro Dah dragon shout from Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

However, investigators overlooked a crucial detail: the actual username was fus__ro_dah, with two underscores after "fus." When they tried to find the email and IP address linked to the account, they accidentally pulled information belonging to Brandon Klayme, whose username had one underscore between "fus" and "ro."

Still, Klayme was found guilty in April 2023 and received an 18-month prison sentence, followed by another 18 months of probation. The username mix-up was only discovered earlier this year, when his lawyers were reviewing his appeal and trying to understand why the digital evidence had pointed to him even though he denied being involved.

In an affidavit for his appeal, Klayme said the subpoena from Wisconsin police had "a subtle mistake that changed the course of my life." Along with clearing him of the charges, the court also overturned his sentence and any related orders. According to the decision, the correct username likely would have led investigators to someone in California instead.

Meanwhile, The Elder Scrolls 6 is still a long way off. Xbox says the game is "coming along well," but reports suggest Bethesda's highly anticipated RPG won't arrive for at least another two years.

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