One of the weirder cases involving paternal pride, ancient texts and the Internet has concluded (well, until the appeal): A NY lawyer was found guilty of dozens of charges, including identity theft, criminal impersonation and aggravated harassment, for trying to defend his scholar-father's stance on who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. Raphael Haim Golb was reortedly in "shock" over the verdict and his lawyer Ron Kuby criticized the jury's decision, "Today what happened was the district attorney of New York County and the trial court made hurting somebody's feelings a criminal act. In New York, hurting people's feelings or being annoying is not a crime. We call that Monday." more ›

The police have arrested one of the fiends involved in the dastardly thefts of computers, video game consoles, a sock monkey and a pet hamster named Star from a Staten Island school for autistic children has bee arrested. The Advance reports, "Emil Sorensen, 21, of Elm Park, is accused of being the lookout in the crime, which was carried out on a weekend... Police say he admitted his role and copped to selling some of the stolen goods — a Nintendo Wii, a laptop and jewelry." Unfortunately, "Star’s fate is unclear." more ›

Students at a Staten Island school for autistic children are still upset about a weekend burglary that left them missing computers, video game consoles, a sock monkey, and a beloved pet hamster. The perp took the classroom pet—named Star—and the stuffed animal—named Skippy—as well as about $5,000 of electronics. Someone has already donated a new hamster to the Eden II School for Children with Autism, and police are investigating the break-in. Executive director Joanne Gerenser told the Daily News the perp is "really pathetic," noting: "When you're stealing games and toys, you're stealing from the kids." One of the students at the school reportedly told Gerenser: "I miss the sock puppet." more ›

Posting online comments under multiple aliases is apparently against the law, at least in the case of Raphael Haim Golb, 49, who is suspected of using 50 different e-mail addresses and monikers — some of the names belonging to academic rivals — to bolster his arguments about the origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls. To back up his belief that the relics were actually produced in Jerusalem libraries, Golb allegedly used multiple online "sock puppets," or fake identities, to make it seem like he had supporters. more ›