Indictment in Cyber-Bullying Case

Posted by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville at 7:05 AM on May 16, 2008.

Back in November, we discussed the absolutely heartbreaking story of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl with depression and body-image related low-self esteem who hanged herself after being tricked by an adult neighbor, mother of a classmate, who was masquerading on MySpace as a 16-year-old boy who liked (and then didn't like) Megan.

At the time, it was reported unlikely that criminal charges would be filed.

But today CNN report that the neighbor has been indicted in the deadly hoax, charged with "conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer."

Lori Drew, of suburban St. Louis, allegedly helped create a MySpace account in the name of someone who didn't exist to convince Megan Meier she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans.

…Salvador Hernandez, assistant agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office, called the case heart-rending.

"The Internet is a world unto itself. People must know how far they can go before they must stop. They exploited a young girl's weaknesses," Hernandez said. "Whether the defendant could have foreseen the results, she's responsible for her actions."

Drew was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the girl.

I only wish there were more charges to be brought against the soulless shit who told police she "felt this incident contributed to Megan's suicide, but she did not feel 'as guilty' because at the funeral she found out 'Megan had tried to commit suicide before'."

[H/T to Angelos, via email.]

Tagged as: cyberbullying