Instagramming Vandal Casey Nocket: I Defaced Rocky Mountain National Park

In October 2014, we reported not once but twice about allegations that Casey Nocket had defaced Rocky Mountain National Park, the Colorado National Monument and a number of other federally protected locations.

The evidence was at least partly provided by her. She shared images of her "art" on a now-deleted Instagram account.

Now, more than eighteen months later, Nocket is finally being held responsible for her actions, which turned her into a pariah on some of the very social-media platforms she once haunted.

She's now reportedly pleaded guilty to seven counts of defacing government property and received her sentence — one that's no doubt lighter than many of her harshest critics might have wished.

In our first post about Nocket, writer Adam Roy noted that she "wasn't shy about her vandalism.

"On her Instagram account, the 21-year-old, who signed her work using the handle Creepytings, posted pictures of herself sketching a face on a sandstone formation in Utah's Canyonlands.

"She also posted snaps of finished pictures in Zion, Crater Lake and several other parks."

Here's one of the images courtesy of Modern Hiker, which first publicized the photos.

In a comment on one of the Crater Lake photos, Nocket revealed that she'd used acrylic paint rather than chalk, conceding, "I know, I'm a bad person."

In the beginning, the National Park Service didn't identify Nocket by name and noted only five vandalized parks: Yosemite, Death Valley, Crater Lake, Zion and Canyonlands.

But a subsequent NPS release ID'd Nocket as the "primary suspect in recent vandalism cases that affect eight national parks in the western United States."

The item added:

National Park Service investigators have confirmed that images were painted on rocks and boulders in Yosemite National Park, Death Valley National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park, all in California; Rocky Mountain National Park and Colorado National Monument, both in Colorado; Crater Lake National Park, in Oregon; Zion National Park and Canyonlands National Park, both in Utah.

As the park service consulted with assorted U.S. Attorneys offices about possible charges, Nocket continued to be a target on Twitter via tweets like this one:

#Creepytings vandal targets national parks in Western US; Internet mob fights backhttp://t.co/KEHadofNgj pic.twitter.com/4u2lP5waZx

— Ashley Soley-Cerro (@ashleydaysc) October 24, 2014

She also became a meme — and not a complimentary one:

WHEN HORRIBLE PEOPLE RUIN BEAUTIFUL LANDMARKShttp://t.co/NXtcXb1Wms#Creepytings #CaseyNocket pic.twitter.com/o418K5R9pq

— S Al Asfour ? (@ShaggieBurd) October 25, 2014

Now, 7News reports that Nocket entered guilty pleas in a Fresno, California, federal court to defacing seven national parks: California's Yosemite National Park, Death Valley National Park and Joshua Tree National Park, Utah's Zion National Park and Canyonlands National Park, Oregon's Crater Lake National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park and the Colorado National Monument here.

The offenses are misdemeanors, and Nocket won't be spending any time in jail.

Instead, she's been sentenced to two years' worth of probation and 200 hours of community service, as well as restitution for the damage she did. A future hearing will settle on an amount.

In the meantime, take the last tweet's advice: When visiting national parks in Colorado and beyond, don't be a Casey Nocket.