OXFORD – A former Oxford Academy student has been arrested for allegedly creating a fake Facebook account that impersonated a local high school employee, on which he posted controversial remarks and other materials in the victim’s name.

The Village of Oxford Police Department arrested Johnathan Corbett, 19, on Friday and charged him with two misdemeanors – second degree criminal impersonation and second degree aggravated harassment.

Police Chief Richard Nolan said Corbett created a Facebook account under the name of a male Oxford school employee and began posting remarks on the site as if he were that person.

“After reviewing the defendant’s statements, I don’t think we can say the victim was targeted for a personal vendetta. Basically the defendant said he did it more because he thought it would be ‘cool,’ funny and get attention from his peers,” said Nolan.

Superintendent Randy Squier said Internet intimidation and bullying are not uncommon in today’s younger and more technology savvy generations.

“It’s an issue that occurs in Oxford and schools all over the country. There have been several incidents involving social networking sites, but this is not a typical incident,” he said.

Squier said teachers had already been discussing the issue of cyber-bullying with students in class and that the district had programs in place aimed at informing teens of the potential consequences, both legal and emotional.

“We’ve provided workshops for parents too, to help teach them how to monitor inappropriate activity on their home computers,” said Squier.