Philadelphia Magazine reporter Victor Fiorillo was award $165,000 in damages Wednesday for a defamation suit he filed earlier this year against an Essington man who called him a “pedophile,” “groomer” and other unsavory terms in a Facebook group.

“I think that the judge heard the argument, and it was a well-reasoned argument, and I’m glad that he came back with his decision the way that he did,” Fiorillo said Wednesday afternoon. “And I hope the message gets out there to, you know, chill the heck out, people.”

Fiorillo filed suit in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court in April alleging defendant Ryan Nelson made numerous comments to and about him on a public Facebook group called “Citizens of Delco” after Fiorillo posted a link there to a story he had written about a pending discrimination s

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