A Sudbury man is concerned after another person with the same name was recently charged with child pornography offences.

Richard Rene Godin says a case of mistaken identity has resulted in him receiving terrible messages on social media and he's concerned about the future.

Another individual with the same first and last name appeared in a news release from the Sudbury police on June 13 in relation to a 35-year-old Greater Sudbury man who was arrested and charged with several child pornography-related offences.

After the news was released, people began linking Godin, an IT analyst, and his Facebook page to the man accused of the serious criminal charges.

"And the charge is the worst thing. And people see that I have children and see that and maybe they assume the worst and be like ‘yeah, that guy needs…’ You know there's a chance people might think to take my kids away because they think I’m this guy and I’m not." said Godin.

He has been busy talking to his boss, his friends, and loved ones to explain the mix-up.

Godin says it's frustrating being wrongfully targeted because he's worked hard to build a good name and reputation.

The police have said it's unfortunate people chose to use social media in this manner.

Rejean Grenier is a journalism professor at University of Sudbury.

"This is not a media problem and this is not a police problem, this is a people problem. This is a vengeful people problem," said Grenier.

Rejean is a former journalist and now a journalism professor.  He says the whole thing doesn't come as a surprise.

"We have a justice system, we have police, we have all kinds of systems that will take care of people that cross the line, it's not my job, your job or anybody else's job to take justice into their own hands," said Grenier.

"The chance of having the same name as a guy who did some wrong, but being in the same city, the same neighbourhood, that's astronomical. I don't think that happens on a day-to-day basis or even often." said Godin.

He is taking this new found notoriety in stride, deciding to increase the privacy settings on his social media and continuing to do damage control.

He's just hopeful people will think next time before they post.