Gimmick account contributes to girl's suicide

[24KT]

Spoony, that may be so, ...but it doesn't excuse what that woman did.
It was a crime and should be prosecuted as such.

[Hugo Chavez]

in the news today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_re_us/internet_suicide

[Butterbean]

in the news today:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_re_us/internet_suicide

"A police report said that a mother from the neighborhood and her 18-year-old employee fabricated a profile for a teenage boy online who pretended to be interested in Megan before he began bullying her. The police report indicates others gained access to the profile, and it is not clear who was sending Meier messages just before her death.

Banas said based on additional interviews, the fake MySpace page was not created by the mother of one of Megan's friends. He said the page was created by the 18-year-old employee, though the mother and her 13-year-old daughter knew about the page. He said he was unable to speak directly with the 18-year-old, whom he said has been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment."


interesting.

[Dos Equis]

I watched a report about this the other day.  Sad story. 

[Butterbean]

Town Shuns Family Over Hoax, Suicide
By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD,AP
Posted: 2007-12-07 11:07:56
Filed Under: Nation News
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. (Dec. 6) - Waterford Crystal Drive is one of those suburban streets that seem so new as to have no history at all. But the suicide of a teenage girl - and allegations she had been tormented by a neighbor over the Internet - have brought a reaction that is old, almost tribal, in its nature.

Residents of the middle-class subdivision have turned against the neighbor, Lori Drew, and her family, demanding the Drews move out. In interviews, they have warned darkly that someone might be tempted to "take matters into their own hands."

"It's like they used to do in the 1700s and 1800s. If you wronged a community, you were basically shunned. That's basically what happened to her," said Trever Buckles, a 40-year-old who lives next door to the Drews.

Drew became an outcast after she participated in a hoax in which a fictional teenager by the name of "Josh Evans" exchanged online messages with 13-year-old Megan Meier. Megan received cruel messages from Josh that apparently drove her to hang herself in her closet in 2006.

Through her lawyer, Drew, a mother of two in her 40s, has denied saying hurtful things to the girl over the Internet, and prosecutors have said they found no grounds for charges against the woman. Nevertheless, the community reaction has been vengeful and the pressure on the Drews intense.

More than 100 residents gathered in front of their home on a recent evening, holding candles and reciting stories about Megan.

Last December, after neighbors learned of the Internet hoax, someone threw a brick through a window in the Drew home. A few weeks ago, someone made a prank call to police reporting that there had been a shooting inside the Drews' house, prompting squad cars to arrive with sirens flashing.

Someone recently obtained the password to change the Drews' outgoing cell phone recording, and replaced it with a disturbing message. Police would not detail the content.

Clients have fled from Drew's home-based advertising business, so she had to close it. Neighbors have not seen Drew outside her home in weeks.

Death threats and ugly insults have been hurled at Drew over the Internet, where she has been portrayed as a monster who should go to prison, lose custody of her children, or worse. Her name and address have been posted online, and a Web site with satellite images of the home said the Drews should "rot in hell."

Some of the threats "really freak me out," Buckles said while standing on his front porch after dark Tuesday night. As he spoke, a car slowed and stopped in front of Drew's home. It sat there idling for a few long minutes, then sped away. Buckles said it is a common occurrence.

"I just really hope that no one comes out here and does something insane," Buckles said. "If they do, I hope they get the right house."

Sheriff's Lt. David Tiefenbrunn said patrols have been stepped up around Drew's house. "There could be individuals out there with a vigilante-type attitude that might want to take revenge," he said.

The Drews - Lori, husband Curt and two children - live in a one-story ranch. An older man at the house who described himself only as a relative said Lori Drew would not comment. He would not say if the family planned to move.

Ron and Tina Meier's home is four houses away from the Drews. The sidewalk is curved, so the neighbors can't see each other from their front doors. The breach between the once-friendly families seems beyond repair.

"I think that what they have done is so despicable, that I think it absolutely disgusts people," Tina Meier said. "I can't take one ounce of energy worrying about who does not like Lori Drew or who hates Lori Drew. I could not care less."

Just a year ago, Waterford Crystal Drive was the kind of quiet suburban street where joggers waved hello while kids played in their front yards. Lately the road has been choked with TV news trucks, and neighbors hustle inside to avoid questions.

The row of brick-facade homes, with basketball nets and American flags out front, was carved out of the woods and pastures in the mid-1990s. Between rooftops, residents can see the neon signs of the strip mall restaurants near a highway that carries commuters some 35 miles to jobs in downtown St. Louis.

The subdivision and those surrounding it have street names evoking the good life, from Quaint Cottage Drive to Country Squire Circle.

The Drews used to fit in just fine, said John McIntyre, who described Lori Drew as an intensely social woman who never hesitated to stop and talk. She and Curt came over to McIntyre's home to look at his glassed-in porch because they were thinking of adding their own, he said.

McIntyre fondly remembered another guest - Megan. She came across the street to baby-sit McIntyre's 4-year-old daughter Genna and arrived with a clipboard and notes, determined to do the job right. He said the activity was good for Megan, who suffered from depression for years.

"She was a good kid," McIntyre said.

Megan became friends with the Drews' young daughter and the girls remained close for years, according to a report provided by prosecutors. But the girls had a falling-out in 2006.

A teenage employee of Drew's named Ashley said she created the "Josh" account on MySpace after a brainstorming session with Drew and her daughter, according to a prosecutor's report. Drew said the girls approached her with the idea, and she told them only to send polite messages to Megan.

Ashley sent Megan many of the messages from "Josh," and Lori Drew was aware of them, prosecutors said.

On Oct. 16, 2006, there was a heated online exchange between Megan and Ashley, who was posing as Josh. A few other MySpace users joined in, calling Megan names. It ended when "Josh" said the world would be better off without Megan.

Tina Meier said her daughter went to her room, crying and upset. About 20 minutes later, Megan was found hanging from a belt tied around her neck.

Drew's attorney Jim Briscoe said on NBC on Tuesday that Drew "absolutely, 100 percent" had nothing to do with the negative comments posted online about Megan and wasn't aware of them until after the girl took her life.

[Dos Equis]

Mom indicted in deadly MySpace hoax
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A Missouri mother was indicted Thursday in the case of a teen who killed herself after being taunted on the social networking site MySpace.com.


Megan Meier, 13, hanged herself in her bedroom after being targeted in a MySpace hoax.

A federal indictment accuses Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Missouri, of using a MySpace account to pose as a 16-year-old boy and feign romantic interest in the girl.

The girl, Megan Meier, committed suicide after her online love interest spurned her, according to prosecutors, telling her the world would be a better place without her.

Drew faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers to obtain information to inflict emotional distress.

The indictment, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses Drew and others of registering on MySpace as "Josh Evans" and using the account to start an online romance with Meier.

Authorities have previously said that Drew set up the account to find out what Meier, who lived in her neighborhood, was saying about her daughter.

Prosecutors allege that Drew and the others violated MySpace's terms of service by using false information to create the account so they could "harass, abuse or harm" Meier, according to the indictment.

The two corresponded for about four weeks before "Josh" broke off the relationship, authorities said. Within an hour, Meier hanged herself in her room and died the next day.

The indictment does not allege that Drew sent the final message telling Meier the world would be a better place without her. Instead, it blames her unnamed co-conspirators, who authorities have previously said include a teenage girl.

After Drew learned of the teen's suicide, the indictment alleges, she directed one of the teens involved to "keep her mouth shut" and deleted the account.

Meier's mother, Tina Meier, told CNN in November that her daughter had self-esteem issues and had struggled with depression since childhood.

She said when her daughter began receiving messages from "Josh" telling her she was pretty, she was thrilled.

When "Josh" broke off the relationship, Tina Meier said, her daughter was devastated.

"She was looking for me to help calm herself down like I always did and be there for her. And I was upset because I didn't like the language she was using, and I was angry she didn't sign off when I told her to," Tina Meier told CNN.

"She said to me, 'You're supposed to be my mom, you're supposed to be on my side,' and then took off running upstairs," Tina Meier said.

Tina Meier found her daughter hanging by a belt shortly afterward.

"It's as if my daughter killed herself with a gun," Meier's father, Ron, told CNN. "And it's as if they loaded the gun for her."

Drew is scheduled for arraignment in June.

"This adult woman allegedly used the Internet to target a young teenage girl, with horrendous ramifications," U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said in a written statement.

"Any adult who uses the Internet or a social gathering Web site to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realize that their actions can have serious consequences," O'Brien said.

In December, Missouri prosecutors declined to file charges against Drew, saying there was no law under which she could be charged.

"There is no way that anybody could know that talking to someone or saying that you're mean to your friends on the Internet would create a substantial risk," St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said. "Under the law, we just couldn't show that."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/15/internet.suicide/index.html

[benz]

told you i was hardcore
:~~~~~~ shoa

[Butterbean]

Woman Goes on Trial in MySpace Hoax

By GREG RISLING, AP

(Nov. 19) - A Missouri woman, her teenage daughter and an employee used an elaborate Internet ruse to terrorize a 13-year-old neighbor girl who later committed suicide, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien told jurors during his opening statement that Lori Drew helped create a false identity on the social networking site MySpace. Posing online as a teenage boy, Drew befriended Megan Meier, he said.

The evidence will show that Drew opened the MySpace account and "fully intended to hurt and prey on Megan's psyche," O'Brien told jurors. Drew is accused of harassing Megan with cruel messages that ultimately led her to take her life in 2006.

Prosecutors characterize the case as the nation's first cyber-bullying case, and the results from it could set legal precedents regarding online harassment.

Drew has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing computers without authorization. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years in prison.

O'Brien said it's the first time the federal statute on accessing protected computers has been used in a social-networking case. It had been used in the past to address computer hacking.

Defense attorney Dean Steward told jurors that Drew did not violate the Computer Use and Fraud Act and reminded them she was not facing charges dealing with the suicide.

"This is not a homicide case," Steward said.

Before the trial began, Steward tried to get U.S. District Judge George Wu to forbid mention of the suicide. Wu rejected the request but said he would instruct jurors that the case was about whether Drew violated the terms of service of MySpace, not about whether she caused Meier's suicide.

Prosecutors have said Drew targeted Megan because she thought the girl was spreading malicious rumors on MySpace about her own daughter.

Drew discussed the matter with her daughter and Drew's assistant, Ashley Grills, and the three allegedly plotted to invent "an attractive male teenager" on MySpace to find out what was being said about her daughter.

Megan hanged herself after allegedly receiving a message saying the world would be better off without her. Before the suicide, O'Brien said, Megan sent a response to the message saying, "'You are the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over.'"

Jury selection had ended earlier in the day. Questionnaires completed by prospective jurors led Steward to question whether Drew could receive a fair trial. He said that the forms indicated about 80 percent of the candidates had heard about the case and that half had formed "devastating" opinions about Drew.

The case is being prosecuted in Los Angeles because MySpace's computer servers are in the area.

[Deicide]

Hardcore braces.