Democrat candidate for Maine U.S. Senate Graham Platner has had a long history of sexual deviancy unearthed over the course of his political campaign. It’s previously been revealed that Platner has engaged in bouts of masturbation in public restrooms, had phone sex on a network compromised by the Taliban, and cried over the closure of a Thailand prostitution tax-loophole.
A recent report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that Platner has an account on an anonymous messaging platform known for playing host to countless sexual predators, Kik.
Platner’s account, which goes by the username phustle0331, remains active today. His chosen avatar is a mirror selfie where an individual appears to be dressed in nothing but a bath towel. The tattoos featured on the individual match tattoos that Platner had as recently as October when he conducted an interview with a local ABC affiliate, confirming that he is the individual pictured. Further, the username matches that of private Instagram account associated with Platner as well as his infamous Reddit account.
Platner’s Kik account, which he later admitted was his to the Wall Street Journal, was created on June 26, 2016. By that time, Kik has already garnered a strong reputation as a platform rife with predators seeking to sexually exploit children. Several cases received widespread attention, including a 2016 sting operation that resulted in the arrests of more than 2,600 predators. The issue was considered so prevalent that the New York Times published an exposé on the dangers the app posed to children.
Maine, the state Platner hopes to represent, has especially faced issues with residents using the platform to prey on children. In June of last year, one man received a sentence of 30 to 60 years for producing videos of children being sexually abused for users of the platform. Another case from September revealed that a man would attend children’s sporting events to obtain photos he would later sexualize through an AI generator.
Experts estimate that 70 percent of the anonymous messaging platform's users are aged 13 to 24. Recent rule changes to the app prohibit minors from accessing the app, but there is currently no age verification to ensure that users are actually adults. To this day, the app has been considered a “Predator’s Paradise.”
Platner's campaign has claimed that he candidate has deleted the app from his phone, but had failed to deactivate it.
The predator-app using Platner, who is the favorite to receive his party’s nomination, is just days from his primary election. He is expected to face off against Republican incumbent Susan Collins in November in what is one of the most-watched races this cycle.