Message Board

[Admin]

Parents say fake online 'friend' led to girl's suicide

CNN
11/17/2007

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Missouri (AP) -- Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her.

Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel.

The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of Megan's.

Now Megan's parents hope the people who made the fraudulent profile on the social networking web site will be prosecuted, and they are seeking legal changes to safeguard children on the Internet.

The girl's mother, Tina Meier, said she doesn't think anyone involved intended for her daughter to kill herself.

"But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old, with or without mental problems, it is absolutely vile," she told the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which first reported on the case.

Tina Meier said law enforcement officials told her the case did not fit into any law. But sheriff's officials have not closed the case and pledged to consider new evidence if it emerges.

Megan Meier hanged herself in her bedroom on October 16, 2006, and died the next day. She was described as a "bubbly, goofy" girl who loved spending time with her friends, watching movies and fishing with her dad.

Megan had been on medication, but had been upbeat before her death, her mother said, after striking up a relationship on MySpace with Josh Evans about six weeks before her death.

Josh told her he was born in Florida and had recently moved to the nearby community of O'Fallon. He said he was homeschooled, and didn't yet have a phone number in the area to give her. Watch Megan's parents say she swooned when she received an affectionate note from 'Josh' »

Megan's parents said she received a message from him on October 15 of last year, essentially saying he didn't want to be her friend anymore, that he had heard she wasn't nice to her friends.

The next day, as Megan's mother headed out the door to take another daughter to the orthodontist, she knew Megan was upset about Internet messages. She asked Megan to log off. Users on MySpace must be at least 14, though Megan was not when she opened her account. A MySpace spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.

Someone using Josh's account was sending cruel messages. Then, Megan called her mother, saying electronic bulletins were being posted about her, saying things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat."

Megan's mother, who monitored her daughter's online communications, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her own daughter was sending. She told her daughter how upset she was about it.

Megan ran upstairs, and her father, Ron, tried to tell her everything would be fine. About 20 minutes later, she was found in her bedroom. She died the next day.

Her father said he found a message the next day from Josh, which he said law enforcement authorities have not been able to retrieve. It told the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her, he has said.

Another parent, who learned of the MySpace account from her own daughter who had access to the Josh profile, told Megan's parents about the hoax in a counselor's office about six weeks after Megan died. That's when they learned Josh was imaginary, they said.

The woman who created the fake profile has not been charged with a crime. She allegedly told the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department she created Josh's profile because she wanted to gain Megan's confidence to know what Megan was saying about her own child online.

The mother from down the street told police that she, her daughter and another person all typed and monitored the communication between the fictitious boy and Megan.

A person who answered the door at the family's house told an Associated Press reporter on Friday afternoon that they had been advised not to comment.

Megan's parents had been storing a foosball table for the family that created the MySpace character. Six weeks after Megan's death, they learned the other family had created the profile and responded by destroying the foosball table, dumping it on the neighbors' driveway and encouraging them to move away.

Megan's parents are now separated and plan to divorce.

Aldermen in Dardenne Prairie, a community of about 7,000 residents about 35 miles from St. Louis, have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. It could come before city leaders on Wednesday.

"Is this enough?" Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. "No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something, and you have to start somewhere."

[Admin]

Parents: Cyber Bullying Led to Teen's Suicide
Megan Meier's Parents Now Want Measures to Protect Children Online

ABC News
11/19/2007

The parents of a 13-year-old girl who believe their daughter's October 2006 suicide was the result of a cruel cyber hoax are pushing for measures to protect other children online.

Tina and Ron Meier, who are now separated and plan to divorce, have taken up the cause of Internet safety after a bizarre twist in their daughter Megan Meier's death.

The mother of a former friend of Megan's allegedly created a fictitious profile in order to gain Megan's trust and learn what Megan was saying about her daughter. But the communication eventually turned hostile.

"There needs to be some sort of regulations out there to protect children. Parents can only be in so many places and so many times," Tina Meier said on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition" Sunday. "I wish there were regulations with these forums. There's got to be something."

The Meiers said they are unsure why someone would do such a thing.

"We don't know. How do you get in the mind of somebody? We just have no idea," Tina Meier said.

While the Meiers do not believe it was the woman's intent to have Megan commit suicide, they do hold her solely responsible for the death.

"I believe they are the ones who took her to the edge of the cliff and forced her to go over," Ron Meier said on "GMA." "Everything that we found out so far -- it was the sole idea of the mother."

He added that he did not believe the mother was acting on her daughter's behalf.

The Back Story

Megan Meier sometimes suffered from low self-esteem and was on medication at the time of her death. But her family said she looked forward to her 14th birthday and having her braces removed.

When a cute boy befriended Megan on the social networking site MySpace, the two formed a quick connection during their more than month-long relationship.

"She got this e-mail from this boy named Josh Evans," Tina Meier said.

Evans claimed to be a 16-year-old boy who lived nearby and was home schooled. But what began as a promising online friendship soon turned sour, as compliments turned to insults.

Evans said he didn't have a phone and so Megan couldn't talk to him. But the two continued their communication online, despite some red flags Tina Meier said she saw.

"It was just that nervous mom," Tina Meier said. She called police to find out if they could determine if a MySpace account was real. They couldn't.

Still, all seemed to go well between Megan and Josh until an unsettling message started a tragic chain of events.

"Megan gets an e-mail, or a message from Josh on her MySpace on Oct. 15, 2006, saying, 'I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends,'" Tina Meier said.

Someone using Josh's account was sending cruel messages and Megan called her mother, saying electronic bulletins were being posted about her, saying things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat," according to the Associated Press.

The cyber exchange devastated Megan, who was unable to understand how and why her friendship unraveled. The stress and frustration was too much for Megan, who had a history of depression.

Tina Meier discovered her daughter's body in a bedroom closet on Oct. 16, 2006. Megan had hanged herself and died a day later.

But six weeks after Megan's death, the Meiers learned Josh Evans never existed. A mother, who had learned of the page from her own daughter, told the Meiers a neighborhood mom had created and monitored Evans' profile and page.

There was a connection between the Meiers and the family with the mother accused of running Evans' profile. In fact, the woman who created the profile had asked the Meiers if her family could store their foosball table.


Once they learned of the family's involvement, the Meiers destroyed the table, placed it in the woman's yard and encouraged the family to move, according to the AP.

"That's the biggest tragedy of this whole thing: An adult did it," Ron Meier said.

While the woman who created the fake profile has not been charged with a crime, residents have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. It could come before city leaders on Wednesday, according to the AP.

Cyber Bullying Common Among Teens

In the information age, playground poundings have moved to online chat rooms and instant messages. Nearly half of all teenagers report they have been the victim of cyber attacks. Everything from text messaging to e-mail can be used to bully victims. Some people even create Web sites solely dedicated to harassment.

It may be difficult for a well-meaning child to initially tell the difference between friend and foe online.

"When emotionally vulnerable young people get online, they can be very easily manipulated," said Nancy Willard, executive director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use.

Ron Meier said parents should be mindful of their children's online activities and relationships.

"Be as watchful as you can be," he said.

[Admin]

Parents Push to Protect Children Online Following Daughter's Suicide

The death of a Missouri teenager is being linked to a cruel practical joke.

It's details of a young woman, who was the victim of a trick played on a popular social website.

Megan Meier was a typical teen living in a Missouri suburb.

And, like most 13-year-olds, was unaware of the potential danger lurking behind anonymous networking sites like Myspace.

"She got this e-mail from this boy named Josh Evans," said Tina Meier, Megan's mother.

Josh claimed to be a 16-year-old boy, and the two chatted online for several weeks.

Until one afternoon last fall, when Megan returned home from school to find a message from Josh insulting her.

"Megan gets an e-mail, or a message from Josh, on her Myspace saying, 'I don 't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends,'" Megan's mother explained.

They were only words, but to a young girl like Megan, they cut deep.

"I believe that it's no different than somebody handing her a loaded gun," admitted Ron Meier, Megan's father.

The day after the exchange, her mother discovered Megan in her bedroom closet.

She had hanged herself. Weeks later, her parents made another startling discovery--Josh never even existed.

The screen name was created by the mother of Megan's former friend who lived just down the street.

"Yes, I believe they are the ones that took her to the edge of the cliff and gave her the nudge to go over," Megan's father assured.

At least a third of teenagers report experiencing cyberbullying at some point

The parents of 13-year-old Megan Meier are hoping that by speaking out, they can protect other children from cyber-suicide.

No charges have been filed against the neighborhood mother or her family.

But Megan's parents still hold them responsible for her death.

Tina Meier said law enforcement officials told her the case does not fit into any law.

But sheriff's officials have not closed the case and pledge to consider new evidence, if it emerges.

[Admin]

Prosecutor Reviewing Suicide Case Of 13-Year-Old

By Rebecca Wu
KDSK
11/19/2007

(KSDK) - The St. Charles County prosecutor is reviewing the circumstances that led to the suicide of a 13-year-old Dardenne Prairie girl.

Prosecutor Jack Banas said there is a state law that makes stalking on the Internet a crime. He is reviewing police reports to see if this happened in the Megan Meier case.

Last November, Megan hanged herself in her bedroom closet.

Her parents said their daughter was bullied by a neighborhood mother who was posing as a teenage boy on Myspace.com. The Meiers want a law to prevent something like this again.

Neighbors said they are saddened, angered and shocked.

"We wish something could be done, but I don't know what could be done especially if there are no laws," Richard Pickering said.

"Adults should know better. Even if there's no law adults should know better because you can manipulate kids," Terry Johnson said.

Wednesday night, the Dardenne Prairie City Council will vote on a proposed ordinance to make Internet harassment a Class B misdemeanor.

Mayor Pam Forgarty hopes this will spur further legislation at the state and federal level.

The accused family refused to comment on the case when contacted. We are not identifying them because they have not been charged with a crime.

[Admin]

Town to vote on online harassment after girl's myspace suicide

By Greg Toppo
USA TODAY
11/20/2007

The tragedy of Megan Meier will take another twist Wednesday night when officials in her home town vote on whether to make online harassment a local crime.

Meier is the 13-year-old suburban St. Louis girl who met a cute 16-year-old named Josh Evans last year on the social networking site MySpace. They became close, but suddenly he turned on her, calling her names, saying she was "a bad person and everybody hates you." Others joined the harassment — the barrage culminated in Megan's Oct. 16, 2006, suicide, just short of her 14th birthday.

Weeks later, Megan's grieving parents learned that the boy didn't exist — he'd been fabricated by a neighbor, the mother of one of Megan's former friends. The girls had had a falling out, police say, and she wanted to know what Megan was saying about her daughter.

Local police and the FBI investigated, but more than a year later, no criminal charges have been filed. Tonight, the Dardenne Prairie Board of Aldermen will vote on whether to make Internet harassment a crime in its jurisdiction.

But since a local newspaper columnist broke the story of Megan's death last week, the case has grabbed the attention of the blogosphere: The paper didn't identify the neighbor, and police say she committed no crime, but bloggers who see it differently have outed and humiliated the family online.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Youtube | Myspace | Megan Meier
The St. Charles Journal decided not to identify the neighbor in the absence of criminal charges or a civil complaint — even though her name is in a police report on a related incident. Columnis Steve Pokin said he wanted to protect her daughter. "Kids don't get to choose their parents," he said.

But once the story was posted online, bloggers matched details in his lengthy piece with property records to come up with the name. Thousands of readers soon began posting hateful comments. They posted a map and satellite image of her home on the website rottenneighbor.com, calling the family "psychos who pushed a teenager to SUICIDE."

By the end of the week, bloggers had also posted her name, address, workplace and phone numbers, as well as a photo of her husband, from his employer's website.

The phenomenon is called "Internet shaming," said Daniel Solove, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C, and author of The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet.

"If people catch people in a transgression … increasingly they're posting their personal information online," he said. "It's bringing back a kind of mob justice, a posse that is very troubling."

Megan's mother, Tina Meier, 37, said Tuesday that a civil suit is still an option, but "obviously we're hoping that the next step is that criminal charges are going to be filed against the family."

She also advised parents to beware of adults pretending to be kids online. "I'm hoping that parents will take an extra step and take a look at their MySpace accounts, their Facebook accounts — it's not just kids. You obviously can have an adult, and it doesn't have to be a sexual predator."

The neighbor's family did not respond to calls from USA TODAY, which also is not publishing their names.

Dardenne Prairie Mayor Pam Fogarty, a mother of five, says she's frustrated that there have been no charges. "It's more than astounding," she said. "It's like, 'Come on, guys — find something that fits.' "

The proposed ordinance would make online harassment a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail. "I'm angry that what I can put into place isn't enough — and it's not retroactive," she said.

She's also pushing a resolution asking state lawmakers to make online harassment a felony statewide.

County prosecutor Jack Banas said Monday that he'd look into the case, but that he had yet to meet with the Meier family or read the details of reports. He wouldn't say whether he'll bring charges, but noted that no one, including the U.S. Justice Department, found charges warranted.

"They're probably right," Banas said. "I just don't want to say that until I've had a chance to look over all the reports."

In the meantime, Fogarty has asked police to take on extra patrols in the neighborhood where the Meiers and the other family live.

If someone were to hurt the other family, she said, "It's another young person that's going to have to suffer — and that's not what we want to happen."

[Admin]

Mo. city makes Internet harassment a misdemeanor in wake of 13-year-old's suicide

Associated Press
November 22, 2007

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. (AP) - Officials in a town in Missouri have unanimously voted to make online harassment a crime.

The measure is in response to the suicide of a 13-year-old girl.

The Board of Aldermen in Dardenne (DAR'-den) Prairie have made Internet harassment a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.

Megan Meier killed herself after getting cruel messages on the Internet but authorities have said they could not find a crime to charge anyone with.

Megan thought she had met a good-looking 16-year-old boy on the Net last year. But he began sending her mean messages and then ended the friendship. It turned out the boy was a hoax created by a mother who wanted to know what Megan was saying about her daughter. The two girls had had a falling out.

Several dozen people broke into applause after the measure was passed.

[Admin]

Town Will Punish Cyberbullies
Officials Respond to Young Girl's Suicide

Barbara Pinto
ABC News
11/22/2007

In Dardenne Prairie, Mo., town officials have passed a measure making online harassment illegal.

It's a different kind of Megan's Law, made in response to the death of 13-year-old Megan Meier. She hanged herself last year after receiving a malicious message from a friend she met online.

Megan became friends with Josh Evans on the social networking site Myspace.com. Josh claimed he was 16 years old and being home-schooled in a nearby town.

But one day, Josh sent a message to the young girl, saying she was "a bad person" and "everyone hates you." He said he didn't want to be friends with her any longer because he had heard she was not nice to her friends. Others in the online community joined in on the verbal abuse.

Click here for definitions of cyberstalking and harassment and how to prevent it from happening to your family.

The cruelty and magnitude of the messages led Megan to hang herself in her bedroom closet on Oct. 16, 2006. Weeks later, her parents learned that Josh was not a real person. He was just an online identity created by a parent of a former friend of Megan's and her mother who lived down the street in their St. Louis suburb.

The two teenagers had argued, and the girl's mother wanted to find out whether Megan was saying negative things about her daughter.

"That's the biggest tragedy of the whole thing," Megan's father, Ron Meier, said. "An adult did it."

Her mother, Tina Meier, contends that young Megan's medical condition, well known to her former friends, speaks to the malicious intent behind the messaging. "They knew she had depression. They know she had ADD, and they knew the medication she was on and they've known us for years."

Their awareness of her sickness, Megan's heartbroken father says, made their actions "no different than somebody handing her a loaded gun."

The police, however, never charged the friend's mother with a crime and also kept the mother's identity confidential in order to protect her child.

But bloggers in the Internet community sought cyberrevenge.

Using clues from a journalist's article, bloggers not only identified but began to harangue the friend's mother, hurling epithets and referring to the girl's family as "psychos who pushed a teenager to SUICIDE." The mother's contact details and a photo of her husband were also posted online, as if to invite the online community to take justice into their own hands.

At least a third of all teenagers say that they have been victims of cyberbullying at some point. But victims of online harassment that doesn't escalate to physical harm sometimes do not pursue legal action.

Tina Meier says she is glad that a measure has finally been passed to criminalize unchecked and hurtful behavior on the Internet, which led to the death of her child.

The town's mayor, Pam Fogarty, told the AP, "It is our hope that by supporting one of our own in Dardenne Prairie, we can do our part to ensure this type of harassing behavior never happens again, anywhere. After all, harassment is harassment regardless of the mechanism or tool."

[Admin]

Second Mo. city passes law making Internet harassment a crime

The Associated Press
11/27/2007

FLORISSANT, Mo. --More than a year after an eastern Missouri teenager killed herself because of mean messages she received over the Internet, a second St. Louis-area community has passed a law making online harassment a crime.

Last week, Dardenne Prairie became the first to pass a measure outlawing Internet harassment, and on Monday, the Florissant City Council followed suit.

Earlier this month the parents of Megan Meier, 13, went public with a claim that their daughter hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, after becoming upset over messages she received from a fictitious boy she had met on the social networking Web site MySpace.

Megan, who was on medication for depression and attention deficit disorder, thought she had met a good-looking 16-year-old named Josh on the Web site. But the person who created the MySpace account was actually a neighbor who wanted to find out what Megan was saying online about her daughter, who had been a friend of Megan's.

After about six weeks the messages took a nasty turn, Megan's parents said. They found their daughter hanging from a support beam in a closet in their Dardenne Prairie home.

The Meiers said the need for laws like those passed in Dardenne Prairie and Florissant is part of the reason they came forward with their daughter's story. Florissant officials, in passing their own law, also encouraged state and federal officials to criminalize Internet harassment.

"As soon as I saw this, I said we go to start addressing this," Florissant Mayor Robert G. Lowery Sr. said. "This has gotten completely out of hand. We got to bring attention to this matter."

According to the police report in Megan's death, a neighbor said she had "instigated and monitored" the fake MySpace account because her 13-year-old daughter had quarreled with Megan and she wanted to see what Megan was saying about her daughter.

No one has been charged in Megan's suicide, but St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said he is reviewing the details of the case.

[Admin]

A Hoax Turned Fatal Draws Anger but No Charges

By Christopher Maag
The New York Times
November 28, 2007

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo., Nov. 21 — Megan Meier died believing that somewhere in this world lived a boy named Josh Evans who hated her. He was 16, owned a pet snake, and she thought he was the cutest boyfriend she ever had.

Josh contacted Megan through her page on MySpace.com, the social networking Web site, said Megan’s mother, Tina Meier. They flirted for weeks, but only online — Josh said his family had no phone. On Oct. 15, 2006, Josh suddenly turned mean. He called Megan names, and later they traded insults for an hour.

The next day, in his final message, said Megan’s father, Ron Meier, Josh wrote, “The world would be a better place without you.”

Sobbing, Megan ran into her bedroom closet. Her mother found her there, hanging from a belt. She was 13.

Six weeks after Megan’s death, her parents learned that Josh Evans never existed. He was an online character created by Lori Drew, then 47, who lived four houses down the street in this rapidly growing community 35 miles northwest of St. Louis.

That an adult would plot such a cruel hoax against a 13-year-old girl has drawn outraged phone calls, e-mail messages and blog posts from around the world. Many people expressed anger because St. Charles County officials did not charge Ms. Drew with a crime.

But a St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Lt. Craig McGuire, said that what Ms. Drew did “might’ve been rude, it might’ve been immature, but it wasn’t illegal.”

In response to the events, the local Board of Aldermen on Wednesday unanimously passed a measure making Internet harassment a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.

“Give me a break; that’s nothing,” Mayor Pam Fogarty said of the penalties. “But it’s the most we could do. People are saying to me, ‘Let’s go burn down their house.’”

St. Charles County’s prosecuting attorney, Jack Banas, said he was reviewing the case to determine whether anyone could be charged with a crime. State Representative Doug Funderburk, whose district includes Dardenne Prairie, said he was looking into the feasibility of introducing legislation to tighten restrictions against online harassment and fraud.

In seventh grade, Megan Meier had tried desperately to join the popular crowd at Fort Zumwalt West Middle School, only to be teased about her weight, her mother said. At the beginning of eighth grade last year, she transferred to Immaculate Conception, a nearby Catholic school. Within three months, Ms. Meier said, her daughter had a new group of friends, lost 20 pounds and joined the volleyball team.

At one time, Lori Drew’s daughter and Megan had been “joined at the hip,” said Megan’s great-aunt Vicki Dunn. But the two drifted apart, and when Megan changed schools she told the other girl that she no longer wanted to be friends, Ms. Meier said.

In a report filed with the Sheriff’s Department, Lori Drew said she created the MySpace profile of “Josh Evans” to win Megan’s trust and learn how Megan felt about her daughter. Reached at home, Lori’s husband, Curt Drew, said only that the family had no comment.

Because Ms. Drew had taken Megan on family vacations, she knew the girl had been prescribed antidepression medication, Ms. Meier said. She also knew that Megan had a MySpace page.

Ms. Drew had told a girl across the street about the hoax, said the girl’s mother, who requested anonymity to protect her daughter, a minor.

“Lori laughed about it,” the mother said, adding that Ms. Drew and Ms. Drew’s daughter “said they were going to mess with Megan.”

After a month of innocent flirtation between Megan and Josh, Ms. Meier said, Megan suddenly received a message from him saying, “I don’t like the way you treat your friends, and I don’t know if I want to be friends with you.”

They argued online. The next day other youngsters who had linked to Josh’s MySpace profile joined the increasingly bitter exchange and began sending profanity-laden messages to Megan, who retreated to her bedroom. No more than 15 minutes had passed, Ms. Meier recalled, when she suddenly felt something was terribly wrong. She rushed to the bedroom and found her daughter’s body hanging in the closet.

As paramedics worked to revive Megan, the neighbor who insisted on anonymity said, Lori Drew called the neighbor’s daughter and told her to “keep her mouth shut” about the MySpace page.

Six weeks later, at a meeting with the Meiers, mediated by grief counselors, the neighbor told them that “Josh” was a hoax. The Drews were not present.

“I just sat there in shock,” Mr. Meier said.

Shortly before Megan’s death, the Meiers had agreed to store a foosball table the Drews had bought as a Christmas surprise for their children. When the Meiers learned about the MySpace hoax, they attacked the table with a sledgehammer and an ax, Ms. Meier said, and threw the pieces onto the Drews’ driveway.

“I felt like such a fool,” Mr. Meier said. “I’m supposed to protect my family, and here I allowed these people to inject themselves into our lives.”

The police learned about the hoax when Ms. Drew filed a complaint about the damage to the foosball table. In the report, she stated that she felt the hoax “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.”

Megan had mentioned suicide several times, her mother said, but had never attempted it, and no one who knew her, including her doctors, felt she was suicidal.

On the advice of F.B.I. agents who did not want the Drews to learn of their investigation of the hoax, Ms. Meier said, her family said nothing publicly about the case for a year. Today, the Meier and the Drew families continue to live four houses from one another on a winding suburban street.

“There are no words to explain my rage,” Ms. Meier said. “These people were supposed to be our friends.”

[Admin]

Prosecutor won't bring charges in MySpace suicide

CNN
12/3/2007

(CNN) -- A Missouri prosecutor said Monday no charges would be sought in the case of a teen who hanged herself last year after chatting on MySpace, although he said adults should have prevented the tragedy.

Megan Meier, 13, killed herself after receiving a critical message on the MySpace social networking site from someone she thought was a boy named "Josh."

St. Charles County, Missouri, Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas said an 18-year-old woman posed as "Josh" on MySpace to find out what Megan was saying about a neighbor's daughter.

The message said Megan was "mean" to her friends, Banas said.

"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," Banas said. "It certainly created a potential risk and, unfortunately for the Meiers, that potential became reality. But under the law we just couldn't show that."

But Banas said that conclusion doesn't mean no one is to blame. "Regardless of what we can charge or what we can't charge, there is no question the adults should have said something to stop this," he said.

Asked whether he is satisfied with laws pertaining to the case, Banas said, "The bottom line is there are some -- I think -- loopholes that I think need to be cleaned up."

The prosecutor said his inability to file charges does not mean those involved in the suicide will go unpunished.

"The loss of a life of a person that they once talked to as a friend, I'm sure, is just twisting them all up inside," Banas said.

Over several weeks, many of the exchanges on MySpace concerned innocuous topics such as what sports they liked, Banas said.

But on October 15, 2006, "another teenage young lady" was given the password to the "Josh" account, Banas said. She reportedly sent Megan a message saying she had heard the girl was "mean to your friends" and adding, "I don't know if I want to be your friend anymore."

Banas said that Megan responded, "Who's saying this? Who's saying I'm mean?"

The next day, the 18-year-old woman -- who was working for a neighbor of Megan's -- used the account to send messages to Megan. Megan asked "Josh" why the messages were nice a day after they were unkind, Banas said.

The 18-year-old woman then reviewed the history of the earlier messages, including Megan's request about who had accused her of not being nice to her friends, he said.

The woman then "fired a statement back to Megan saying, 'I'm not going to tell you who told me that, I don't do that, I don't tell on my friends,' " Banas said.

Megan responded with a message expressing anger and calling "Josh" "a few names," according to Banas.

"Josh" then sent a statement that included something to the effect of "this world would be a better place without you," Banas said. Accounts differ as to who was with the 18-year-old during the typing of the messages, he said.

When Megan's mother returned home, she found her daughter crying at the computer. After reading the messages, she criticized her daughter for using inappropriate language, Banas said.

Telling her mom that "I can't believe you're not on my side," Megan ran upstairs and hanged herself, Banas said.

Missouri's harassment statute says nothing about the Internet, and the stalking statute requires repeated conversations, so neither would apply in this case, Banas said.

The purpose of the neighbor who arranged for the "Josh" character "was never to cause her emotional harassment that we can prove," Banas said. Any case would be based on "what we can prove and what a jury would believe."

[Admin]

Neighbors shun MySpace hoax family

CNN
12/07/2007

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Missouri (AP) -- 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 October 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.

[Admin]

Police Probe New Blog in MySpace Suicide Case

By Betsy Taylor
Associated Press
December 10, 2007

A blog entitled "Megan Had It Coming" surfaced more than two weeks ago. Earlier this week, the person writing the blog claimed the messages were being written by Lori Drew. The detailed blog lays out Drew's would-be motives for getting involved with the MySpace hoax against Meier.

--A woman linked to an online hoax played on a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide and has been vilified for it may be the subject of a deception -- someone on the Internet is posing as her and blogging about the case.

Lori Drew's attorney said Friday that she is not the writer. The St. Charles County sheriff's department is investigating who is behind the blog postings on Blogger.com to see if a crime has been committed, a spokesman said.

The family believes the postings are an effort to damage its reputation following the death of the Megan Meier.

"Any Internet message that purports to be a member of the Drew family is being managed by an impostor and undoubtedly is being done for the purpose of further damaging the Drews' reputation," the family said in a statement.

A blog entitled "Megan Had It Coming" surfaced more than two weeks ago. Earlier this week, the person writing the blog claimed the messages were being written by Lori Drew.

The detailed blog lays out Drew's would-be motives for getting involved with the MySpace hoax against Meier.

Lori Drew's lawyer, Jim Briscoe, said they have contacted Google Inc., which owns Blogger.com. "We have contacted Google, telling them that was an impostor," Briscoe said.

A Google spokesman said the company is currently reviewing the impersonation allegation.

Meier thought she was corresponding over MySpace with a cute boy named "Josh Evans" online. The boy never existed. Instead, Drew, her 18-year-old employee and 13-year-old daughter, and Megan's one-time friend, helped create the hoax.

When messages from the fictional boy and others on the Internet turned cruel, including one stating the world would be better off without her, Megan hanged herself in October 2006.

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.

Details of the case emerged last month, and the story drew international attention.

Since then, the Drews have been besieged with negative publicity, and Meier's death prompted her hometown of Dardenne Prairie to adopt a law engaging in Internet harassment a misdemeanor.

Now, elected officials say the law's first use could be to prevent possible harassment against the Drews.

"I would say that would be a possibility, that they could be the first," Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. "A law is a law is a law. You can't discriminate."

Briscoe said the Drews have not asked police to look into the blog postings.

St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said he heard about the postings through the news media and asked the sheriff's department to investigate.

Banas said he had no idea if someone might be charged under the Dardenne Prairie measure. He explained any charges he brings are under state law, not under local ordinances.

The prosecutor said Internet harassment and stalking are crimes in Missouri under state law, but noted the sheriff's department is still investigating if a crime has been committed.

[Admin]

Megan's mom warns: 'Words … hurt to the core'

By Jessica Bock
St. Louis Post Dispatch
12/20/2007

TROY, MO. — The gym filled with about 900 seventh- and eighth-graders grew quiet as the video started and Megan Meier's pictures appeared on the screen.

They listened and watched as Megan's mom, Tina Meier, appeared on the video and told them how bullying at school and later online at MySpace.com would lead to the 13-year-old's suicide last year in Dardenne Prairie.

When the video ended and the lights came back on, Tina Meier wiped the tears from her eyes, walked to the middle of the gym and began her message to the students.

"I'm here to try and bring this to real life," Meier said. "Megan just wanted to be like all the other girls and fit in. It (the bullying) was more than Megan could take. Words absolutely hurt to the core. We have to stand up for ourselves and for others."

Kaylee Strawhun, 13, said she was shocked to hear the story of Megan's death and how she was harassed on MySpace. She said that even though about half of her peers at Troy Middle School have MySpace accounts, she doesn't.

"It's kinda scary," said Strawhun, who helped create the anti-bullying video. "Hopefully kids will learn the things they say could lead to something drastic happening,"

Lexi Stailey, 12, said she thought that her fellow students took the anti-bullying assembly and Meier's message seriously.

"They really took it in," Stailey said. "I hope it gets to the people who bully, and they don't do it anymore."

Megan's death received national attention after her parents went public with the story in November. On Wednesday, Meier spoke as part of anti-bullying week at Troy Middle, the first of many stops Meier hopes to make in schools to talk about the effect of cyberbullying on children. She also has been lobbying for Internet harassment laws.

"This is absolutely my goal, besides the law, to get into schools and talk to kids about cyberbullying," Meier said.

Megan hanged herself in her bedroom closet in October 2006 after receiving hurtful messages on MySpace, including some from a boy she thought was an online friend. The Meier family later discovered that the boy was fake. Authorities have said he was created by Lori Drew, her daughter and an employee of the Drews to see what Megan was saying about the Drews' daughter. The two had been friends but had a falling out. The St. Charles County prosecutor investigated and determined that Megan's case does not meet legal requirements to charge anyone with harassment, stalking or child endangerment.

It is hoped that Meier's appearance at Troy Middle School on Wednesday will drive home the message that bullying is not acceptable, teacher Drew Tignor said. The school has been working to fight bullying by teaching students to speak up for others when someone picks on them, and report those bullies to teachers and principals.

The anti-bullying video was produced by students on the school's character education council. Some students and teachers wore T-shirts Wednesday that said "Be a buddy not a bully."

Tina Meier told the students that bullying at school depressed Megan, and that the messages on MySpace the day of her death were too much for her to handle. Within two hours, she felt the entire world was against her, Meier said.

[Admin]

Judge's ruling keeps FBI's report on teen private

By David Hunn and Tim Bryant
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
12/21/2007

ST. CHARLES — A judge has denied public access to FBI records used by a local prosecutor in the investigation into the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier.

The Post-Dispatch sued St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas last week to get reports that the FBI compiled in its investigation of Megan's suicide last year. Banas used the documents in deciding that he could not file charges in connection with Megan's death.

On Thursday, Presiding St. Charles County Circuit Judge Ted House rejected the paper's request, citing privacy concerns.

Minutes after House's ruling, Banas surrendered the documents to Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Llewellyn.

The federal Freedom of Information Act allows records to remain private, Llewellyn said, if their disclosure would represent an unreasonable invasion of privacy.

But Post-Dispatch Editor Arnie Robbins said that under the state Sunshine Act, the FBI records that Banas used became public when he finished his investigation.

"We're very disappointed by this ruling," Robbins said. "We strongly believe that the Missouri Sunshine Law is clear that these records should be open now that the investigation is officially closed.

"We also believe that the information in the investigative reports is vital to the public's understanding of a criminal investigation in a case in which no criminal charges were filed. We will have to consider our options."

Megan, 13, hanged herself from a closet shelving beam in October 2006 at her home in Dardenne Prairie. Her parents first thought she was driven by the taunting e-mail messages of an online friend. Then they were told the friend didn't exist — that he was made up by neighbors, four doors down.

FBI agents investigated but federal prosecutors declined to press charges.

A year later, the story broke in a newspaper column in the Suburban Journals and spread quickly by national and international media. Many blamed the neighbors, Curt and Lori Drew, for Megan's death.

Banas responded to the public outcry, saying he would review the case. He requested interview transcripts from the FBI.

More than two weeks ago, Banas said he would not file charges — he could find no proof of a crime. He also concluded that the story was more complicated than the one widely disseminated.

The Post-Dispatch submitted a public record request that day for the investigation documents.

Banas considered releasing the transcripts but said he had to consult with the FBI. He said the interviews would not reveal anything more significant than already known.

At one point, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway demanded the records back.

Post-Dispatch attorney Joseph Martineau argued in court that the law does not distinguish between reports generated by one agency or another.

House did not disagree. He did not address who owned the documents, nor who could release them.

He said, simply, that state law allowed for certain federal exemptions — such as for privacy concerns.

[Admin]

L.A. grand jury issues subpoenas in Web suicide case
In a novel approach, prosecutors are looking at charging a woman who posed as a boy and sent cruel messages to teen with defrauding MySpace

By Scott Glover and P.J. Huffstutter
Los Angeles Times
January 9, 2008

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has begun issuing subpoenas in the case of a Missouri teenager who hanged herself after being rejected by the person she thought was a 16-year-old boy she met on MySpace, sources told The Times.

The case set off a national furor when it was revealed that the "boyfriend" was really a neighbor who was the mother of one of the girl's former friends.

Local and federal authorities in Missouri looked into the circumstances surrounding 13-year-old Megan Meier's 2006 death in the town of Dardenne Prairie, an upper-middle-class enclave of about 7,400 people, located northwest of St. Louis.

But after months of investigation, no charges were filed against Lori Drew for her alleged role in the hoax. Prosecutors in Missouri said they were unable to find a statute under which to pursue a criminal case.

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, however, are exploring the possibility of charging Drew with defrauding the MySpace social networking website by allegedly creating the false account, according to the sources, who insisted on anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

The sources said prosecutors are looking at federal wire fraud and cyber fraud statutes as they consider the case. Prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction because MySpace is headquartered in Beverly Hills, the sources said.

It's still unclear who created the fictitious account. In a police report, Drew told authorities she, with the aid of a temporary employee, "instigated and monitored" a fake profile prior to Megan's suicide, "for the sole purpose of communicating" with the girl and to see what the girl was saying about Drew's daughter.

The grand jury issued several subpoenas last week, including one to MySpace and others to "witnesses in the case," sources said. One source did not know who else had received subpoenas; the other declined to provide that information.

Thomas P. O'Brien, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, declined to comment. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for O'Brien, also declined to comment.

MySpace officials could not be reached for comment, nor could Drew or her husband, Curt, be reached.

Attorney Jim Briscoe, who represents Lori Drew, said: "We have no knowledge of . . . anything dealing with a grand jury anywhere dealing with this case. . . . The only comment I have is we can't comment on rumors from anonymous sources."

The news came as a shock to Tina and Ron Meier, Megan's parents. Both said they were unaware of the grand jury and had not been contacted by the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

"If MySpace is considered the victim, fine. I don't care at this point," said Tina Meier, 37. "We've been begging for someone -- anyone -- to pick up this case. If the Drews can be charged -- and even get the chance to be convicted -- it would be a day I could be happy with."

Cyber-bullying has become an increasingly creepy reality, with the anonymity of video games, message boards and other online forums offering an outlet for cruel taunts.

Former federal prosecutor Brian C. Lysaght said such a prosecution would be "not as much of a reach as it might appear at first glance." In recent years, he said, Congress has passed a series of statutes that make criminal conduct involving the Internet federal offenses.

Still, it could be difficult to draw the line between constitutionally protected free speech and conduct that is illegal.

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the idea of using a fraud charge to tackle the unusual case was "an interesting and novel approach."

"But I doubt it's really going to lead to the type of punishment people really want to see, which is this woman being held responsible for this girl's death," she said.

Levenson, a former federal prosecutor, said that if the grand jury brings an indictment, it could raise 1st Amendment issues and questions about how to fairly enforce such a law on the Internet, where pseudo-identities are common.

"This may be a net that catches a lot of people," she said.

Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney who specializes in privacy and free speech issues for the legal advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the potential of this case to set legal precedent criminalizing online speech is worrying.

"The right to speak freely online is hugely important. Whistle-blowers create pseudonyms," Opsahl said. "So do many people who anonymously report on corporate or government bad practices."

In the neighborhood where the Meiers and the Drews live, protecting the 1st Amendment has not been the main concern.

Teenagers and furious neighbors have protested in front of the Drews' one-story, white house. Virtual vigilantes have posted the Drews' home address, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and photos on websites such as RottenNeighbor.com.

Tina and Ron Meier, high school sweethearts, have struggled to deal with their daughter's death; the couple is getting divorced. Their youngest daughter, Allison, now 11, splits her time between the two.

The mounting tension and heated emotions worried community leaders enough that they are having the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department regularly patrol the suburban neighborhood. Late last year, Dardenne Prairie's Board of Aldermen passed a law that makes cyber harassment a misdemeanor -- with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail or a $500 fine or both for each violation.

A number of area communities have passed similar measures. And Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt pulled together an Internet task force, which put the final touches on a proposal Tuesday that would make it a felony crime for adults who use online technology to harass children.