Michael Brutsch revelled in the power he had as he anonymously posted vile photographs of unsuspecting young girls to the titillation of millions of college students and perverts on the web.





Brutsch, 49, was unmasked last week as Violentacrez, the man behind a sick roll call of internet forums entitled Creepshots, Jailbait, Rapebait and Incest featuring images of the buttocks and breasts of girls in the classroom, gym or even 'upskirt' images of women on the street.





The depraved activities of the 'biggest troll on the web' as a moderator on social networking site Reddit sparked a storm of protest which eventually led to his real identity being exposed and dismissal.





But MailOnline can today reveal that in real life his relatives believe that the obese airforce veteran is ‘as nasty as his screen name sounds’. One close family member describes how his relatives live in fear of ‘evil’ Brutsch - and how his seedy obsession led to the acrimonious split from his first wife.





And disturbingly, he has even outrageously claimed to his legion of online fans that he’s had oral sex with his stepdaughter, 19.





'Biggest troll on the web': Michael Brutsch, 49, (left) has been exposed as Violentacrez (logo of whom right) -behind a string of disturbing Reddit picture forums that have bordered on child pornography

Anonymous: The $194,000 home from where Brutsch would run the sick forums on his laptop in bed

And families who live next to Brutsch on his middle class street in the suburban town of Arlington, Texas – just yards from an elementary school – tell MailOnline of their shock and horror at the discovery that perhaps the most vile man on the internet is their neighbour.





It can also be revealed that far from being ashamed, Brutsch only offers a half-apology for his actions and that he has been supported by his followers who have been donating money to his ‘fighting fund’.





Halloween masks and fake spider webs decorate the brick-fronted homes along the quiet tree-lined street where real life monster Brutsch lives with his second wife Dani, 42, his only son, Seamus, their two cats and seven dogs.





Brutsch, who is portly and has a greying goatee beard, has hidden behind the shuttered windows of his $194,000 five-bedroom ranch-style home since being outed last week, avoiding the accusing and disgusted stares of his neighbours.

'He is evil, a sociopath who does not care who he hurts and just hides behind the computer to do so much damage'







While he cared little for the privacy of the young girls whose photos populated the internet forums he ran, he has suddenly demanded other media respect his privacy, posting three messages, the first saying 'no soliciting", the second 'no trespassing" and the third 'Attn Press - No Comment".





Brutsch who calls himself the ‘creepy uncle of Reddit’ maintains that beyond the white wooden closed shutters, he satisfied his sick obsessions with the acceptance of his wife, a diabetes sufferer.





He has said in previous interviews that Dani goes by the name not_so_violentacrez on the social networking site, and he said they would lie on their bed with their laptops – she posting pictures of dolphins, while he posted porn.





But he did not always have such an admiring, supportive companion. Six years ago, he divorced his first wife, Susan Brutsch, 62 after a ‘destructive marriage’.

Relatives put the split down to his online habits and a man who they claim is ‘as nasty as his screen name sounds’. Michael does not care who he hurts, he is just obsessed with the computer and the power that he has,’ said the family member.

‘He was getting a kick out of this because he could hide behind a different name. He doesn't care about anyone else or the harm he has brought because he did it anonymously.

‘He is evil, a sociopath who does not care who he hurts and just hides behind the computer to do so much damage. He had a destructive first marriage and a lot of the problems with his wife Susan was down to what he was doing on the computer.





Supporter: Brutsch claims his wife, Dani, 42, is fully aware of his online trade

Privacy: Despite disregarding the wishes of the unsuspecting women pictured on his forums, Brutsch is now in hiding pleading with media not to hound him and has put up notices on his front door telling people to stay away

In a measure of the man, the family member pleaded with MailOnline not to use his name or photograph him apparently for fear of the revenge Brutsch could wreak.





‘You do not know what he can do with a computer. He is a complete computer nerd and can wreck lives. He can get hold of things about your private life and mess you up,’ he claimed.





‘He is more than capable of doing that and would take pleasure in messing up people. You do not want to get on the wrong side of him as he could do lots of damage. I'm not talking physical violence but messing with you through the computer.’





Susan lives in Red Oak, about a 40-minute drive from Brutsch's home with her new partner Robert Lemmon and only has contact with Brutsch through their son, Seamus. They both declined a request from Mail Online to be interviewed.

But a revealing insight into the mind of Brutsch is found in a questions-and-answers session from 2010 in which he claimed disturbingly to his fans that he had had oral sex with his 19-year-old stepdaughter.





He took part in an ‘Ask Me Anything’ thread on Reddit and was asked what was the creepiest thing he’d ever done. He replied: ‘That’d be a tough call. Perhaps oral sex with my 19-year-old stepdaughter.’ He claimed that his then wife ‘got mad, then got over it.’





Sick: The Creepshots thread even featured pictures of non-consenting schoolgirls apparently taken in a classroom by a teacher

MailOnline did not have any success contacting a woman believed to be his stepdaughter, now living in Alabama.





Seamus, Brutsch's only son, lives with him in Arlington and is due to join the U.S. Marines. Brutsch claims his son is also an avid Reddit user, going by the handle Spawn_of_VA. Someone going by that name posted titbits about Brutsch himself, according to Gawker.com. One post claimed he had a ‘suitcase full of dildos’.





THE SICK NAMES OF SOME OF BRUTSCH'S FORUMS Creepshots

Jailbait

Rapebait

Hitler

Jewmerica

Misogyny

Incest

Niggerjailbait

Chokeabitch

But it is unknown whether Brutsch himself was using that name and his son knew nothing about it.





Certainly family members can’t bring themselves to believe it is true and fear it will affect his ability to enlist in the Marines.





‘It is going to be terrible for the boy because he will be known as the son of Violentacrez,’ said the family member who spoke to MailOnline. ‘He has thrown his family under the bus and they will be the ones who suffer.’





Brutsch was one of thousands of unpaid moderators at Reddit. Bu he was seemingly more respected than many due to his long service and his popularity.





He even produced T-shirts with a zombified version of Reddit's alien logo and sold them to his fans.





And the site even awarded him a purple pimp hat icon in recognition of him winning an award for his moderating skills.





Reddit, owned by media giant Conde Nast, gained new recognition last month when President Barack Obama hosted a question and answer session on the site.





Anyone is free to post material on the site, which bills itself as the ‘front page of the internet’ and anyone can also start a forum on a particular topic, called subreddits. Brutsch was supposed to police threads and ensure nothing too offensive was posted.





But now he is accused of fuelling an array of distasteful and barely legal subreddits with names such as Chokeabitch, Niggerjailbait, Rapebait, Incest, Jailbait and of course the now infamous Creepshots.





Unashamed: The Creepshots posts had an unashamed list of disturbing names

Respected: Brutsch, seen here at a Reddit meet up, was well thought of at the social networking site

By appealing to the worst voyeuristic tendencies of human nature, and by giving anonymous users free rein, it unsurprisingly attracted millions of users.





He was only caught out after a campaign to close the Creepshots and Jailbait forums after some alarming threads featuring pictures of non-consenting young girls and women in the gym, on the street or even lifted from their Facebook or MySpace pages began to appear.





In one particularly disturbing past, a prolific poster, who is thought to be a teacher using the name Weagleweaglewde, uploaded pictures of girls in a classroom setting.





What had been a dirty little secret in the bowels of the web, had bubbled up to attract disdain and disgust in mainstream society and the media.





Brutsch hid behind the flag of free speech and internet freedoms but had completely failed to draw the line. And last Friday, Adrian Chen, a writer for Gawker exposed his real identity.



‘I have three daughters and would be horrified to think their photographs was on some website without their knowledge’





Back on his street, his neighbours, just like the rest of respectable Americans, have been horrified at what he’s been up to.





‘I have four young daughters who walk past his house every day to school and it just sickens me,' said one mother. ' It is perverted and totally wrong and I have spoken to others in the road and they are equally disgusted.





Posters for Romney and Ryan dot the lawns of many homes, with the occasional vote Obama sticker in a window. With Baker Elementary school at the bottom of the road it is a place where couples with young families aspire to own a home.





One neighbour said: 'When they arrived I made a point of going over and saying hello. They were quite chatty, but that is the last we saw of them.





‘You see him come home from work, the garage door goes up and you never hear from them. No I know what he has been doing all the time at night. I find it quite revolting to think he has been putting up all those photographs.





‘I have three daughters and would be horrified to think their photographs was on some website without their knowledge.’





Brutsch has since been fired from his job in the IT department of Arlington-based First Cash after bosses discovered what he had been doing when he returned home every evening. Company chiefs were so disgusted they sacked him without pay and banned him from ever returning to their offices.





Disgusted: Many mothers living on the street, that has a elementary school very nearby, are revolted by Brutsch

Weird: Former colleagues at the IT firm where he worked said he was 'creepy' and someone who would 'stare for too long'

"It was a combination of embarrassment to the company, discomfort of fellow workers who remain here and just what he was doing was so reprehensible that we had to severe the relationship," said First Cash CEO Rick Wessell.





One female office worker said: ‘He was always a creepy kind of guy who would stare a bit too long.’





Prior to moving to Arlington the family lived in Garland, Texas and before that in Charleston, South Carolina and has previously worked at a Veteran's Affairs Hospital and with KIA motors.





Since the internet exploded with stories about Brutsch he has restricted his online postings to private chats on the Reddit forums. Having pleaded that he will run out of money and has no health insurance to pay his wife’s medical bills he has set up an online Paypal account to solicit donations from sympathisers.





Using a Gmail account, Brutsch thanked those who had rallied to his cause, writing: ‘Thank you to everyone who has contributed to my Paypal.’ It is not known how much was donated. He also entered into a bizarre online conversation with a Reddit user and promised to send him a sex toy.





In what was seen as a desperate attempt at damage limitation Brutsch also gave an interview with to the Anderson Cooper 360 show. Cooper had been among the first to highlight the sordid goings on the Jailbait page which led to it being eventually closed down by Reddit.





In extracts released ahead of his appearance on the show on Thursday night Brutsch tries to apologies for what he has been involved with.





'You know Violentacrez is what I did in my spare time to unwind from my ten hour day job,' he said. ' That's how I relaxed in the evening. I no longer need to relax in the evening, because I no longer have a job.





'That and the fact that the curtain has been pulled back and everyone can see the puppeteer. That and the fact that I have, as with the rape and pregnant reddits, I have come around over the last few months to understand that some of these things can be harmful to others.'





Quizzed by interviewer Drew Griffin he is asked if he is he was apologising or making an excuse for what he did.





Defiant: Brutsch has failed to properly apologise for his digusting habit claiming he actually stopped child pornography from appearing

Brutsch replied: "Well I am to some degree apologising for what I did. Again I was playing to an audience of college kids. Two years ago when all of this was at its height, the audience was appreciative and supportive of the sort of gallows humour that I put out there.’





Brutsch tries to portray himself as some sort of internet watchdog preventing users from seeing child porn. He said: ‘I had been tasked by my Reddit administrators with making certain that there were not overt or real child porn. No naked children, no naked teenagers, no children in swim suits.’





Incredibly he adds: ‘Jailbait was mature teenagers with their clothes on or with their naughty bits covered. They depended on me to make sure the rules and things were within the lines.’





When Griffin tells him the pictures were not his, he replies: ‘That's correct.’





Since being sacked Brutsch has continued to take part in online forums, using one to say he’s considering becoming a porn star, with his supporters encouraging him.





In another he insists he is not a paedophile. ‘I'm a paedophile like Obama's a Muslim - your grandma might believe it, but that don't make it true.’ he adds.





While his postings are seemingly just within legal bounds, as no ‘victim’ has yet come forward to complain to police, he has certainly brought into focus just how blurred the lines are between what is acceptable and what is not, according blogger Damon Poeter.





Writing in PC Magazine under the headline 'Shed no tears for Violentacrez’ he said: ‘This isn't very complicated. Posting pictures of people without their knowledge is both an invasion of their privacy and a form of outing them to the Internet.





‘Doing so may be protected speech, but it doesn't mean it's good speech, or speech that shouldn't be shamed from the hilltops as an exercise of one's own free speech.’





Now that the tables have been turned on Brutsch as he grapples with the humiliation online and in real life, it remains to be seen whether he will serve as a warning to others that the freedom of the internet cannot be abused so much even if you hide behind the cloak of anonymity the internet affords – or whether another person will just take his place.



