Megan Meier online suicide case ends
p2pnet news view | P2P:- The case of Lori Drew (bottom right), accused of creating a phony MySpace user whose cyber-bullying drove 13-year-old Megan Meier (top left) to suicide, inspired an episode in the Law & Order TV series.
Now, in real life, Drew has been convicted on three counts of accessing a computer without authorisation, but acquitted on three felony charges of deliberately using the fake ‘Josh Evans’ to inflict emotional distress on Megan.
“Lori Drew, the mother of a former friend of Megan … described to police how she and others … had made up the love interest, a 16-year-old Josh Evans – obstensibly to see what the 13-year-old [Megan] Meier might be saying about Drews’ daughter, Sarah (bottom centre) ,” p2pnet posted a year ago, going on:
“A quote from Political State Report, it reads like a bad script. But it’s real and from all accounts, it led directly to Megan’s death a year ago.”
The federal jury decision to acquit Drew, accused of using MySpace to, “intentionally perpetrate a cruel Internet hoax on a vulnerable teenage girl,” marked a setback for prosecutors who’d wanted to send a message that cyber-bullying was a serious crime with serious ramifications, says the Los Angeles Times.
Megan Meier’s mother, Tina (top centre) was, “disappointed that her former neighbor was not convicted of a felony,” says the story.
Says The Independent »»»
The case made legal history because it revolved around charges that Ms Drew lied on the fake MySpace profile, violating the site’s terms of service which require users to provide “truthful and accurate” registration information. Although the law surrounding cyber-bullying is unclear, prosecutors in Meier’s native Missouri had declined to press charges, saying there was no legal mechanism under which they could be brought. The case was instead heard at a federal court in Los Angeles because Fox Interactive, the owner of MySpace, is based in Beverly Hills.
Ms Drew had throughout the trial denied that she was using her computer when the fateful, final message to Megan was sent. While she knew of the existence of “Josh Evans”, she claimed the hostile emails were sent by her daughter, Sarah, and several friends. Drew’s attorney, H Dean Steward, fought unsuccessfully to have the charges thrown out before trial, arguing that people routinely create fake identities on the internet without fear of prosecution. He also tried and failed to ban prosecutors from mentioning Megan’s death on grounds that it might prejudice the jury.
Although the verdict broke new legal ground and could provide boundaries for the way Americans are held accountable for their actions online, experts say Ms Drew is likely to escape prison and is expected to receive probation and a small fine.
Megan’s mother, Tina, has founded the Megan Meier Foundation to, “bring awareness, education and promote positive change to children, parents, and educators in response to the ongoing bullying and cyber-bullying in our children’s daily environment”.
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phony MySpace user – Megan Meier Net suicide trial, November 21, 2008
p2pnet – ‘Megan Meier’s law’ passed, November 26, 2007
Los Angeles Times – Jury delivers mixed verdict in MySpace bullying trial, November 27, 2008
The Independent – Woman found guilty in ‘cyber-bully’ case, November 27, 2008
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November 28th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Thou Shalt NOT Let Your Children On The Internet Unsupervised Unless They Are Mature Enough to Handle All Of Life’s Problems
Which part of this don’t parents get?
I hope this sends a clear message to all parents.
As for Lori Drew: thanks for letting the whole world know that you are outright evil.
Ok, that’s my sermon for this lifetime … I hope.
November 29th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
sick mama
November 29th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Laurie Drew is trash. Trash is as trash does. She’s a liar and a thug.
December 1st, 2008 at 12:16 am
Megan Meier deserved to die for lack of value on her life. Laurie didn’t kill her, she didn’t put a gun to her head, she didn’t put the knife in her hand. oh poor me a boy don’t like me, ah a bully said I have cooties, oh no…MOMMY…….. This is AMERICA and people get picked on daily. Survival of the fittest and obviously she didn’t have the means to survive. Megan AND ONLY MEAGAN choose to end her life because she was weak. Laurie didn’t want her to die, and anyone that thinks so is an idiot. Pisses me off that this is even nationalized, get over it! Fact is Meagan was weak and its fuckin bullshit that Drew is EVEN TRIED! millions of people have fake profiles, millions do not read the terms of conditions, there is NO WAY IN HELL I will give my name on a website, do you know the rate of identity theft. I like my privacy thank you very fuckin much. I’m really pissed off at the mom to, raising her daughter that if she ever has a problem just commit suicide, she was never even responsible enough to use the internet. Yes its the parents fault that she died, maybe she should lay off the alcohol. Tommorrow is another day, and the injury will soon fade. But thankfully we dont’ have Megan around to hear cry anymore, Just her mom. I hope she too commits suicide and this will also fade away. Man! if I only had the magical wand to rid idiotic stupid whiners.We have freedom of speech, and if we want to create a fake profile then we can just do that. If we want to block our phone number from caller Id we can, If we want computer encryption WE CAN. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!! This was a fake profile used to get inside information due to fact that megan was probably a backstabbing backtalkin bitch, I don’t know her and neither do 99% of you so we’ll just leave it at that. And if same as saying goes for the kitchen if you can’t take the heat. If you can’t deal with life, then do the world a favor. And Meagan did just that!! I wouldn’t show emotions for someone that didn’t value their life either. oh yeh I in no way whatsoEVER know megan, laurie or whoever her moms name is.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Drew is probably not the nicest person in the world, but calling her a murderer is simply irrational. I’m sorry Megan died, but there’s only herself to blame for her death. As a person who experienced REAL, ACTUAL, PHYSICAL bullying and survived I can’t feel any sympathy for her. How insanely low does your self esteem have to be to take your own life for what some stupid, fictitious kid thinks of you?. She was OBVIOUSLY not a sane person, and her parents obviously did a horribly neglectful job in monitoring their daughter’s mental health. There are hundreds of kids who get BEAT UP and harassed in their schools and they still love themselves enough to survive. I’m sorry but that is the truth. Megan would be alive today is she had wanted it, but she didn’t. This kid’s rejection was only a way for her to rationalize her wish to die. I blame her parents for raising such an incredibly weak child and I blame her for not appreciating her own life. Yes, Drew is definitely a nice person, but she is not a murderer. The only murderer is this story is Megan.