Finally! - Neighbor Indicted in MySpace Suicide Hoax
@whiteheather39 (24403)
United States
May 15, 2008 3:26pm CST
This is one item of news I was very glad to see. I think this was terribly cruel thing to do to a teenager which drover her to suicide. Now I hope she get the book thrown at her. Your opinion?
Missouri woman was indicted Thursday on federal charges for allegedly perpetrating an online hoax that led to the suicide of a 13-year-old girl.
Local prosecutors declined to file charges in the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier.
(Ron Meier and Tina Meier )Lori Drew was indicted by a grand jury in Los Angeles for her role in allegedly creating a fake MySpace page, in the name of "Josh Evans," that was used to contact Megan Meier.
Meier committed suicide in October 2006 and her parents have said their daughter's death was the result of the rapid decline of her online relationship with "Josh," whom she believed to be a 16-year-old boy who first flattered the self-conscious girl and then taunted her.
She hanged herself an hour after Drew and others, allegedly posing as Josh, said they no longer wanted to be her friend and told her the world would be a better place without her, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los AngelesThe local prosecutor, Jack Banas, has said that the police report overstated Drew's involvement. He declined to file charges in the case, saying no state laws had been broken.
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4861399&page=1
5 people like this
15 responses
@dgbin69 (16)
• Malaysia
16 May 08
My space is great. i have an account with it & lots of things you can share & learn just like My Lot. But as a human being, personally i think never get too involved in a serious online relationship. It might end up bad..really bad just like the case mentioned. You can find love & frindeship in all different kinds of situation & place & Myspace may be one of it.
But be realistics! It's all based on online relationship terms. There may be some honest person out there & great to be online friends. But don't forget there's also some folks who just like to pass their time by being someone who never really exist maybe due to lack of attention from their surroundings & background.
Use our own sets of mind to judge it & deal with it! As for the parents, communicationg & understood the child needs & wants is very important. You may not be able to give them the world but you can definetley can give them love but not by being somebody else. Cheers!
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
16 May 08
If no state law was broken by this Drew person, then there should be a state law.
I am getting fed up with the abuse people suffer online from idiots who hide under their anonymity online.
This is a form of abuse & bullying, which ended tragicly.
Would the gutless wonders be doing this in real life, where they are more obvious. Probably yes, as anyone doing this online bullying & scamming is likely to be unstable in society. But in the open what they are doing is more obvious.
Any online abuse should lead to serious consequences.
@MissGia (955)
• United States
16 May 08
I was watching this story on MSNBC today on my break at work.
It was the first time i had heard of the story and i was appalled that an adult would actually do something so childish.
Was their a motive for this lady to want to do this to a 13 year old girl? or was this lady Just downright cruel. Its no secret of how sensitive girls that age are to rejection, this lady should have none better and i too hope she has the book thrown at her.
can't wait to see how this unfolds
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (94357)
• United States
15 May 08
You know, I understand Lori Drew's family wants to defend her, but I still resent their statement that when this trial comes about, Lori will be cleared of all charges. What the heck? Everyone including the woman knows what she did. I always thought they could at least charge the woman with harrassment! I don't think the woman will get 20 years (the time she could possibily get), but she sure as heck better get some jail time. Adults bear responsibility that kids don't. Lori Drew should have known better. There is no excuse for that.
1 person likes this
@missbadazz20 (35)
• United States
16 May 08
Oh God. I didn't hear about this and I have been on myspace for 2 year's. This is very Sad and it makes me Mad at the same time. She was a adult she should of known better then to do something as stupid as that.
She Should get get some time out of it. I mean for god sake a girl had killed herself because of her actions that is wrong!.
1 person likes this
@jlcook (166)
• United States
16 May 08
Even if she is not prosecuted (which she should be) there is always going to be at least ONE person who knows what she did, and will judge her like nobody else could. She will have to live with what she did, and nobody in her community will ever let her live with that. KARMA always comes around. Shame on this supposed ADULT for preying on a young girl. She will eventually get what she deserves.
1 person likes this
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
16 May 08
I think it's very sad that an adult would participate in cyber bullying a child like this. I cannot see any justification for her behavior.
@cwilson26 (2735)
• United States
16 May 08
This is terrible. I can't believe there were no files charged against these people, but then again it really doesn't surprise me since the justice system is so screwed up anymore. This is truly terrible.
@souless_tragedy (259)
• Canada
16 May 08
Man, that is some sick, twisted sh*t right there. I don't think people realize how close a lot of teenagers are to the edge when they do things like that. I mean, what a horrible person to poke fun at a girl who obviously lacked self-esteem. I wish people would begin to understand how powerful words can be - especially in the mind of a child.
@mummymo (23706)
•
16 May 08
OMG what an awful thing to do! We would all go to the ends of the earth to protect our kids from bullying but instead of trying to sort out a problem that definitely existed this 49 year old adult woman decided to play with and manipulate a teenage girl to see if she was even saying anything about her at all! How sick is that? Great example for a mother to give her children , wonderful way to sort out a problem between 2 teenage girls - NOT! I am glad that she is being prosecuted and believe that there should be laws to protect our children more online! xxx
@twallace (2675)
• United States
16 May 08
This goes to show you that the saying sticks and stones break bones but words can never hurt me. Words do hurt and can even kill someone; I thought it was just a prank but when it was on the news i felt bad cause the young girl was really hurt by what was posted in my space. I have seen other peoples my pages but i don't have one. I guess they young girl knew that everyone was looking at what was posted about her. And the hurt that she felt no one can really put a measure on it; she killed her self due to it that is a lot of hurt for such a young person to carry on their shoulders.
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
15 May 08
So many parents try to even the score and fight their teenage kids battles for them. Instead of giving the smart advice to her own child to ignore it and do the responsible thing she chose to go right along with her child and to torment the 'enemy'. It's like the parents who encourage fist fights and egg their child on to hit harder, or who even fight the fist fight for them. It's about time that these parents learn that they need to be responsible and that their actions do have consequences, legal consequences. They need to monitor their own child's behavior and curtail bad behavior not encourage it and even do it themselves. It's too bad that a child had to die first for this to happen. I hope she gets some sort of punishment.
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
16 May 08
I do think it was incredibly cruel. But I am not sure it calls for a murder charge. I don't think it was the woman's fault that the girl took what happened on the internet to heart. I shows that the 13 year old was not mature enough to be on the internet and it makes me wonder where her parents were during the whole thing. Parents have a responsibility to monitor their children on the internet to prevent this from happening.
I also feel that this particular thing opens a legal can of worms as well. There will be a lot of people looking to cash in on this internet cruelty lead.
