You didn’t plan on sleeping tonight, right? The now-infamous YouTube documentary on the Schoolboy 9 saga takes viewers down the rabbit hole of the Instagram account smartschoolboy9, and it’s as disturbing as it gets.
It goes without saying that what we’re about to discuss is messed up, so be warned: some may find this content distressing.
The issue was first brought to the attention of the online community in April 2024, when Redditor u/NumerousCut792 posted to the Instagram subreddit to say they’d been led down a “weird rabbit hole” of accounts showing bizarre AI images of children and an adult dressing up in a school uniform.
“They all seem to have high heels in them,” they wrote. “Is this an age play thing or is something more sinister?” They also shared screenshots of three key Instagram accounts: @smartschoolboy9; @truth_sticks_11; and @girl.chloe12. As people started digging, what they uncovered was truly unsettling.
Entering the smartschoolboy9 rabbit hole
Content creator Nick Crowley has created a 27-minute YouTube documentary titled ‘smartschoolboy9: An Internet Rabbit Hole’ in an attempt to get to the bottom of “one of the most notorious internet mysteries in recent memory.”
The Instagram accounts claim to be operated by three different children, and they all feature content that is creepy in its own right. The first is truth_sticks_11, which has since been set to private.
But the bio is shown, alleging it’s run by a boy and his mother. The first post shared in 2021 is a clip in which a person, claiming to be the mother, accuses account @abdullah_chakir_ of being run by a man pretending to be a boy.
The practice of calling out alleged predators online is a common thread on truth_sticks_11, but they also began sharing increasingly sinister photos of the supposed 12-year-old boy. Although they started with innocuous snaps, over time they grew stranger.
“They looked off, almost as if they were AI-generated,” explains Crowley. “And on top of this, they appeared to be heavily edited, in an almost inexplicable manner.” As time progressed, the content became more explicit and suggestive.
Similarly, girl.chloe12 claims to be the account of a child – in this case a 13-year-old girl – run by a parent, and it also frequently warns about the dangers of child predators.
But the most disturbing theme present in both pages is the users’ obsession with high heel mini boots, with many of the images featuring edited kids wearing a school uniform and some form of these shoes.
The third account, smartschoolboy9, is distinct – rather than featuring fake or edited photos, the adult user posts videos and images of themselves dressed in school uniform.
He’s always shown with a white painted face, red lipstick, and heeled mini boots. Alongside this, the online community have noticed his voice is identical to the one featured in truth_sticks_11’s very first post, and it’s these clues that have led to the conclusion Schoolboy 9 is behind all of the Insta pages.
Reddit uncovers more disturbing details
As these unsettling revelations came to light, the subreddit r/smartschoolboy9 was set up, where individuals were sharing any information they could to try and get to the bottom of what’s going on. However, the Reddit page has since been banned following harassment incidents.
But prior to this, Crowley notes how netizens found “over a dozen” more similar accounts, including @12stockwelljoanne12, @schoolgirltheresa, and @myle.s95. All of them follow each other, perhaps to make them appear more legitimate.
Numerous alarming activities have been recorded. Firstly, they interact with other real children on social media. Then there’s the fact that they post explicit content of manufactured minors.
But most disturbing of all are the photos of real children, some of which he may have taken himself, as well as snaps of him outside a school or at nearby trails. One video appears to show him chasing a child, with the words, “Chasing another boy in high heeled mini boots.”
Using clues in the footage of various posts, it’s believed the man lives in the London area, and claims have since emerged that he was “driven out of Doncaster.” According to the new documentary, after further digging, a name has been revealed: 59-year-old David Alter.
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“At the moment it doesn’t appear that David has any past criminal convictions, or documented history of this behavior,” says Crowley. “But we do know thanks to the investigation done on Reddit and Discord, he is currently being investigated by local authorities.”
This name also appears alongside a location – Ashlake Road, Streatham – in a letter written to a newspaper about the importance of school uniforms, arguing they are “a path to discipline.”
“May I say, as a school pupil aged 13, that wearing school uniform is not as bad as Caroline Irby makes out… In school uniform you are not just anybody,” they wrote. “You are still you, but you are expected to be more disciplined. The uniform reminds you of that.”
Cybersleuths face criticism
It’s important to point out that none of these claims are verified, and many of the Instagram pages have since been taken down or replicated by other users.
As is warned at the start of the doc, “Do not attempt to make contact with the individual discussed in today’s video.”
The issue now is that while discussion and supposed details continue to emerge, as we see with so many internet sleuth cases, we’re no closer to getting to the truth of what’s happening or seeing legal or medical intervention.
The pinned post features a Google Doc of the smartschoolboy9 case, from theories to examples of David’s posts. “If you are new to the case, read this to inform yourself,” it says.
However, this in itself has sparked anger from some users, with one writing, “Yeah I don’t need testimonial quotes saying ‘ew this guy is creepy’, like I can deduce that myself. Can we actually have valuable facts and details other than ‘ick’?”
Dexerto spoke with experts on the matter, who warned against cybersleuthing while giving advice about the appropriate actions to take.
Viewers react to Schoolboy 9 documentary
There are also thousands of comments from disturbed viewers, with one writing, “What a terrible day to have eyes.” Another said, “This is about the sickest thing I’ve ever seen. Pure nightmare fuel. I hope the authorities bring this creep to justice.”
As more and more information comes to light, there are claims from people knowing the man behind the filter. “This is genuinely not a lie, I swear I ‘know’ this person. I’m originally from Doncaster…” said one.
“He would walk around the city centre dressed EXACTLY like this, always with a satchel/briefcase, in a suit, caked in makeup as in this video, and act what can only be described as childish. Like a caricature of a little boy.
“If he saw you looking at him he would blow raspberries and other weird noises. He was allegedly driven out of Doncaster for being a paedo. He had printed out photos on his walls of naked adults but with children’s faces stuck over them. Every single thing matches up. I am adamant it is him.”
When asked why he hadn’t been locked up yet, they replied, “We had LOTS of characters in Doncaster. When something is the norm, nobody cares unfortunately.
“And despite him being much shorter irl than he looks in this video (I’d say he can’t have been more than 5ft 7”) his absolute lack of fear was quite intimidating.”
Salad Fingers creator David Firth, also from Doncaster, shared an anecdote about seeing smartschoolboy9 on the streets years ago. But he soon regretted it – he received so many messages from followers that he asked people to stop messaging him.
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