13yo girl kills self over cruel MySpace prank done by adult neighbor. - Page 3 - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

dksuddeth · 05-15-2008, 12:12 PM

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

Quote:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Missouri woman for her alleged role in perpetrating a MySpace online hoax on a 13-year-old neighbor girl who committed suicide.
Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on the girl.

Drew allegedly helped create a false-identity MySpace account to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named "Josh Evans."

Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.

Drew has denied creating the account and sending messages to Megan.

MySpace, a social networking site, is based in Beverly Hills. The indictment noted that computer servers are located in Los Angeles County.

Due to juvenile privacy rules, the indictment refers to the girl as M.T.M., the U.S. attorney's office said.

The conspiracy count carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. Each count of accessing protected computers carries a maximum possible penalty of five years in prison.

Last month, 19-year-old Ashley Grills, an employee of Drew, told ABC's "Good Morning America" she created the false MySpace profile, but said Drew wrote some of the messages to Megan.

Grills also claimed Drew suggested talking to Megan via the Internet to find out what Megan was saying about her daughter, who was a former friend.

Grills also said she wrote the message to Megan about the world being a better place without her. The message was supposed to end the online relationship with "Josh" because Grills felt the joke had gone too far.

"I was trying to get her angry so she would leave him alone and I could get rid of the whole MySpace," Grills told the morning show.

Megan's death was investigated by Missouri authorities, but no state charges were filed.

I hope she's tried and convicted, though I'm not sure how this is gonna work from CA

Hain · 05-15-2008, 01:10 PM

Five years? Five years is not enough. How many more years should M.T.M. have had? That sounds like a good figure to start with.

Shauk · 05-15-2008, 02:35 PM

What are her years worth though? As I said before, she had to be pretty f'd in the head to begin with. I don't foresee her death as being of any consequence vs the many others that die involuntarily. Bottom line, she made a choice that reflected her level of intelligence.

Suicide is dumb.

But you know what, I just did the same fucking thing he did, i just, in a round about way, said, the world is probably better off without her. Should I get sentenced now? Is my opinion and dislike of another person and exercising my so called freedom of speech worth locking me up?

Where are the charges "accessing protected computers" coming from anyways?

n0nsensical · 05-15-2008, 02:52 PM

MTM was 13 years old, Lori Drew is an adult. She's expected to act knowing the possible consequences of her actions. If someone tells you they're suicidal and you give them a gun you share responsibility if they pull the trigger. If she really didn't do anything, she can explain to the court. She might consider herself lucky not to have a more serious charge.

girldetective · 05-15-2008, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Dardenne Prairie officials Wednesday night told a couple who lost a daughter to suicide last year that they will pass a law to make cyberspace harassment a crime in this city of 7,000 and will also pass a resolution next week to encourage the state Legislature to address the problem. The story has received national attention.

This is a dangerous precedent. I dont like anyone to fuck with the freedoms of the Internet. That said, I think willravel is on the right track about this girl specifically, and roachboy in general re ecommunication.

I sorta think all the adults in this case are to blame. Every single one of them.

Shauk · 05-15-2008, 03:32 PM

no, it's bullshit, This falls in to the responsibility of her parents, 1st off, the girl wasn't even 14 yet, she wasn't even old enough to have a myspace account, it says so right in the 1st article.

That said, she was on track to becoming another sob story "oh pity me i'm a victim of bad parenting" story that winds up on daytime talk shows, and now, she killed herself and became a martyr for this?

she died living in a fantasy world, pretending to be a girl that she wasn't, who got a dose of her own medicine by someone else pretending to be a guy that they weren't.

I'm sorry but people are mean, adults are mean, the internet is mean, and if you let your 13 year old on myspace when she's already mentally ill, you're a fucking sad ass fucking pathetic excuse for a parent and need to be smacked upside the head with a telephone booth.

This is such a twisted idiotic story from the start.

n0nsensical · 05-15-2008, 04:11 PM

i'm not making excuses for the kid's parents, i'm making excuses for HER. she doesn't deserve that? yeah so shes on myspace at age 13, so I was already lookin at Playboy and listening to gangster rap and playing violent video games with my friends at age 13, so you grow up fast. But I didn't have any adults sticking it in my face either. it's like, here ya go Timmy, go play with this unloaded gun. you might THINK it's harmless, but you forgot about that bullet in the chamber.

I don't think anyone here (I cant speak for those crazy Parents groups) is saying we need to censor the internet, or make it less free, trust me I'm the first one complaining whenever they pass new laws 'for the children', we're saying you should have some responsibility for your actions, virtual or otherwise. Harassment is already illegal. It doesnt matter if you do it over the internet, text message, hand-written letter, or verbally. If you follow a 13-year-old around in public telling them the worlds better off without them you're probably going to have some explaining to do too. I don't know exactly what the mother's involvement was, but I suppose that's what the court needs to figure out. the internet is not and never has been some place outside of the law, sure most people, online or irl, do get away with most crimes, but its always a roll of the dice, somebody loses eventually.

RetroGunslinger · 05-15-2008, 05:55 PM

I have a couple of opinions on this which shouldn't hopefully start a debate:

The woman who did this deserves the harshest punishment, simply because she did something that she had to have known would be severely harmful to the girl. Even I know how angst-ridden and easily depressed 13-year-old girls are, and I have a penis (please, don't debate this).

The girl, as Shauk noted, was not very bright and suicide is in fact dumb. However, she was a 13-year-old, so stupidity just comes with the territory and is therefore a moot point.

The parents of the girl needed to be more strict. Once a child is--arguably--15-years-old, the can start having some Internet freedom, but should still have an eye kept on and (especially in the case of a girl or a fat, emo guy) the parents should do so until about 17, when they should be intelligent enough (partly thanks to the parents, I would hope) to discern what's tragic and what is complete bullshit. The hormones are raging, sure, but the world is a lot less cloudy.

Also, I think this whole thing is tragic, for the record, and my heart (or what's left of it) go out to the parents and the (I'm guessing here) friends of the girl. I hope the woman is punished to the fullest extent of the law, and possibly raped in prison by a broom handle or however butch prisoners do it.

Hain · 05-15-2008, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shauk

What are her years worth though?

According to a recent CNN article, 20 years.

Quote:

Suicide is dumb.

Yep.

Quote:

But you know what, I just did the same fucking thing he did, i just, in a round about way, said, the world is probably better off without her. Should I get sentenced now? Is my opinion and dislike of another person and exercising my so called freedom of speech worth locking me up?

So you emotionally harassed an unstable 13-year-old girl?

Quote:

Originally Posted by n0nsensical

I don't think anyone here (I cant speak for those crazy Parents groups) is saying we need to censor the internet, or make it less free, trust me I'm the first one complaining whenever they pass new laws 'for the children', we're saying you should have some responsibility for your actions, virtual or otherwise. Harassment is already illegal. It doesnt matter if you do it over the internet, text message, hand-written letter, or verbally. If you follow a 13-year-old around in public telling them the worlds better off without them you're probably going to have some explaining to do too.

Well put.

The_Jazz · 05-16-2008, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroGunslinger

I have a couple of opinions on this which shouldn't hopefully start a debate:

Don't apologize for starting a debate. You started a very interesting conversation yesterday. It may have been unintentional and not based on what you really meant, but that's the meat and potatos of this place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroGunslinger

The parents of the girl needed to be more strict. Once a child is--arguably--15-years-old, the can start having some Internet freedom, but should still have an eye kept on and (especially in the case of a girl or a fat, emo guy) the parents should do so until about 17, when they should be intelligent enough (partly thanks to the parents, I would hope) to discern what's tragic and what is complete bullshit. The hormones are raging, sure, but the world is a lot less cloudy.

Just like any teen suicide, there were failures by multiple adults here. The girl's parents could have done a better job. Obviously the woman who did the harrassing failed spectacularly. But there's lots of blame to go around here.

Esoteric · 05-16-2008, 09:17 AM

Looks like the mom that started this whole thing is being indicted. I think this is a good thing.

LINK

Quote:

Originally Posted by CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A Missouri mom was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in the death of a teen who killed herself over a failed Internet romance that turned out to be a hoax.

A federal indictment accuses Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Missouri, of using the social networking Web site MySpace.com 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 lure Meier into an an online romance.

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.
Don't Miss

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.
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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."

05-15-2008, 01:10 PM	#82 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	Five years? Five years is not enough. How many more years should M.T.M. have had? That sounds like a good figure to start with. __________________ ////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\

05-15-2008, 02:35 PM	#83 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	What are her years worth though? As I said before, she had to be pretty f'd in the head to begin with. I don't foresee her death as being of any consequence vs the many others that die involuntarily. Bottom line, she made a choice that reflected her level of intelligence. Suicide is dumb. But you know what, I just did the same fucking thing he did, i just, in a round about way, said, the world is probably better off without her. Should I get sentenced now? Is my opinion and dislike of another person and exercising my so called freedom of speech worth locking me up? Where are the charges "accessing protected computers" coming from anyways? Last edited by Shauk; 05-15-2008 at 02:38 PM..

05-15-2008, 02:52 PM	#84 (permalink)
n0nsensical Junkie Location: San Francisco	MTM was 13 years old, Lori Drew is an adult. She's expected to act knowing the possible consequences of her actions. If someone tells you they're suicidal and you give them a gun you share responsibility if they pull the trigger. If she really didn't do anything, she can explain to the court. She might consider herself lucky not to have a more serious charge. __________________ "Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln Last edited by n0nsensical; 05-15-2008 at 02:57 PM..

05-15-2008, 04:11 PM	#87 (permalink)
n0nsensical Junkie Location: San Francisco	i'm not making excuses for the kid's parents, i'm making excuses for HER. she doesn't deserve that? yeah so shes on myspace at age 13, so I was already lookin at Playboy and listening to gangster rap and playing violent video games with my friends at age 13, so you grow up fast. But I didn't have any adults sticking it in my face either. it's like, here ya go Timmy, go play with this unloaded gun. you might THINK it's harmless, but you forgot about that bullet in the chamber. I don't think anyone here (I cant speak for those crazy Parents groups) is saying we need to censor the internet, or make it less free, trust me I'm the first one complaining whenever they pass new laws 'for the children', we're saying you should have some responsibility for your actions, virtual or otherwise. Harassment is already illegal. It doesnt matter if you do it over the internet, text message, hand-written letter, or verbally. If you follow a 13-year-old around in public telling them the worlds better off without them you're probably going to have some explaining to do too. I don't know exactly what the mother's involvement was, but I suppose that's what the court needs to figure out. the internet is not and never has been some place outside of the law, sure most people, online or irl, do get away with most crimes, but its always a roll of the dice, somebody loses eventually. __________________ "Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln

05-15-2008, 05:55 PM	#88 (permalink)
RetroGunslinger eats puppies and shits rainbows Location: An Area of Space Occupied by a Population, SC, USA	I have a couple of opinions on this which shouldn't hopefully start a debate: The woman who did this deserves the harshest punishment, simply because she did something that she had to have known would be severely harmful to the girl. Even I know how angst-ridden and easily depressed 13-year-old girls are, and I have a penis (please, don't debate this). The girl, as Shauk noted, was not very bright and suicide is in fact dumb. However, she was a 13-year-old, so stupidity just comes with the territory and is therefore a moot point. The parents of the girl needed to be more strict. Once a child is--arguably--15-years-old, the can start having some Internet freedom, but should still have an eye kept on and (especially in the case of a girl or a fat, emo guy) the parents should do so until about 17, when they should be intelligent enough (partly thanks to the parents, I would hope) to discern what's tragic and what is complete bullshit. The hormones are raging, sure, but the world is a lot less cloudy. Also, I think this whole thing is tragic, for the record, and my heart (or what's left of it) go out to the parents and the (I'm guessing here) friends of the girl. I hope the woman is punished to the fullest extent of the law, and possibly raped in prison by a broom handle or however butch prisoners do it. __________________ It's a rare pleasure in this world to get your mind fucked. Usually it's just foreplay. M.B. Keene

05-15-2008, 03:32 PM	#86 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	no, it's bullshit, This falls in to the responsibility of her parents, 1st off, the girl wasn't even 14 yet, she wasn't even old enough to have a myspace account, it says so right in the 1st article. That said, she was on track to becoming another sob story "oh pity me i'm a victim of bad parenting" story that winds up on daytime talk shows, and now, she killed herself and became a martyr for this? she died living in a fantasy world, pretending to be a girl that she wasn't, who got a dose of her own medicine by someone else pretending to be a guy that they weren't. I'm sorry but people are mean, adults are mean, the internet is mean, and if you let your 13 year old on myspace when she's already mentally ill, you're a fucking sad ass fucking pathetic excuse for a parent and need to be smacked upside the head with a telephone booth. This is such a twisted idiotic story from the start.