Defacer of seven national parks is convicted, banned with help of investigators on social media

One violation in Yosemite

The social-media platform Reddit helped the National Park Service find a graffiti artist who had defaced seven national parks, Justina Vasquez of NPR reports: "Casey Nocket, 23, of San Diego, was banned this month from national parks and other federally administered lands."

An October 2014 post  "in Reddit's hiking community questioning whether action could be taken against Nocket caught the attention of many users who had seen her work, including Yosemite National Park investigator Steve Yu," who picked up on the tips. One poster noted, "Her name on Instgram shows her FB page as well, so she's not hard to find."

"Yu joined the Reddit conversation and began receiving tips from users who were conducting their own investigations, uncovering Nocket's Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr accounts," Vasquez reports. "Her home address and other contact information also surfaced, giving way to a bout of Internet trolling and harassment, The Guardian reported."

"Nocket pleaded guilty and received two years of probation and 200 hours of community service," Vasquez reports. NPS law-enforcement chief Charles Cuvelier said in a release, "This case illustrates the important role that the public can play in identifying and sharing evidence of illegal behavior in parks."