Photographer, accused of being ‘Mudwata’, released on $100k bail for cyberbullying offence

Photographer Keron Bruce was on Friday released on $100,000 bail by Magistrate Sunil Scarce for a cyberbullying crime.

Bruce, 35, of Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, was arraigned at the Diamond/Grove Magistrates’ Court on the East Bank of Demerara.

He pleaded not guilty to using a computer system on January 25, 2021, to disseminate information about Leroy Smith knowing same to be false to cause public ridicule, contempt, hatred or embarrassment.

He was represented by attorney-at-law Bernard DaSilva, who made an application for reasonable bail.

Magistrate Scarce released Bruce on $100,000 bail and adjourned the matter to April 29, 2022.

In January, Bruce was arrested by police in connection with a cyberbullying allegation made by Smith.

Smith had offered a $1 million reward for the identity of a cartoon character popularly known as ‘Mudwata’ who allegedly made sexual remarks about him on the popular social media site Tik Tok.

According to police headquarters, Bruce was arrested and several pieces of electronic equipment were seized from his house, including some voice messages and when an analysis/comparison was done, there was a match with the “Mutawata commentary (same language).”