Facebook Shaming: Mum Sorry Over 'Creep' Slur

A mother who shamed a man on social media because she thought he was taking pictures of her children has apologised after receiving death threats.

The woman, who does not want to be named, took a photo of the man in a shopping centre in Melbourne, Australia, and posted it on Facebook - branding him a "creep".

It turned out the father-of-three was only taking a selfie photo in front of a Darth Vader sign to send to his children.

The woman's photo was shared more than 20,000 times and the devastated man was forced to contact police after being wrongly labelled a paedophile.

The mother, who does not want to be named, said she had tried to contact the man to apologise after she received two death threats - one in person and the other on Facebook.

She phoned her local newspaper, the Knox Leader, to issue an apology and said she had been unable to sleep since the incident.

Her children are to receive counselling because they are so upset by it.

"My kids are now suffering because of a stupid mistake I made," she said.

"It was never done with the intention of splashing it all over these social media pages.

"I just need to say sorry ... for not letting (the police) do their job, and putting my concerns on social media.

"My children are going through an enormous amount of pain (because of this) and I hate to think what (the man) and his family are going through.

"I just don’t know how to say sorry enough."

The woman said she deleted the post immediately as soon as she realised she had made a mistake.

"Trust the police - leave it up to them, don’t go putting anything up on social media," she said.

The man, who lives in Melbourne, said a friend told him about the Facebook posting, and he immediately went to Knox Police Complex to explain what happened.

He told Daily Mail Australia he and his children were devastated by the ordeal.

"I'm a father of three kids and a normal human being ... I've never taken a selfie before," he said.

"I was in two minds whether to take the selfie, but I thought it'll be a good daggy dad joke.

"In real terms it was embarrassing enough to be standing in front of Darth Vader to be honest."

He said he was considering legal action after the post was seen by friends and family around Australia.