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Close Topic OptionsUs 'cyber-bully' Mother Indicted
Us ' Cyber-bully' Mother Indicted - Politics, Business, Civil, History - Posted: 28th Nov, 2008 - 4:17pm
Posts: 11 - Views: 1257
Us 'cyber-bully' Mother Indicted
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MySpace users create online profiles A Missouri woman who allegedly used a fake MySpace profile to bully a girl who later committed suicide has been indicted by a federal Grand Jury. Lori Drew, 49, allegedly posed as a boy on the website to befriend Megan Meier, 13, who hanged herself after he broke off the virtual relationship. Ms Drew denies creating the profile on the social networking website and sending messages to Meier. She faces four charges, each carrying a maximum 5-year prison term. Meier, a neighbour of Ms Drew in St Louis, Missouri, took her own life in October 2006. It is alleged that she killed herself after receiving several cruel messages, including one purporting to be from the fictitious 16-year-old boy - named Josh Evans saying the world would be better off without her. Ms Drew faces charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers without authorisation to inflict emotional distress. "Any adult who uses the internet or a social gathering website to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realise that their actions can have serious consequences," said Los Angeles federal prosecutor Thomas O'Brien, who brought the charges. Dean Steward, a lawyer representing Drew in the federal case, told the Associated Press a legal challenge to the charges was planned. "We thought when prosecutors in St Louis looked at the case and all the facts, it was clear no criminal acts occurred," he said. MySpace issued a statement saying it "does not tolerate cyberbullying" and was cooperating fully with the US attorney. |
Reference: https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7403957.stm
This is insane! Why would someone do that, they can't be right in the head! I just don't know what will happen but I am going to keep checking on it.
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Indicted Mother cyber-bully Us
That is so sad. I wonder why she didn't simply block him or place an abuse watch on his account. Ain't no way I'm going to let anyone bully me let alone on a place like myspace.
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Update from: https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_...UDl0wjqaLVH2ocA
Mom in Web bullying case turns grief into activism
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| DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. - When Tina Meier's 13-year-old daughter committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet, her grief was so encompassing she felt at times she couldn't breathe. She had trouble being around loved ones who reminded her of her child. Even today, recollections of those first holidays after Megan's death are foggy at best. But in recent months, the Missouri woman has focused on ways to protect other children from bullying, even leaving her job as a real estate agent to dedicate herself to the Megan Meier Foundation. A group of friends and relatives helped Meier create the foundation, which seeks to educate and encourage positive changes to prevent bullying and cyberbullying. Meier and the volunteers are working to improve laws. They speak at schools and to parent groups. They hope to begin offering scholarships to children who help other children in some way. Megan hanged herself in her closet on Oct. 16, 2006. Megan had a history of attention deficit disorder and depression. Her suicide came soon after she received mean messages through the MySpace social networking Web site. Authorities have said Drew, Drew's teenage daughter and another teen took part in an online hoax, creating a fake boy named Josh Evans who befriended and flirted with Megan online. Drew allegedly wanted to know what Megan was saying about her own daughter online. Shortly before Megan's death, the comments from Josh and some other Internet users turned cruel, with "Josh" allegedly saying the world would be better without Megan. Meier, 37, said her grief hits her in waves... In an interview with The Associated Press at her home in the St. Louis suburb of Dardenne Prairie, Meier said she does not believe Drew meant to drive Megan to suicide. But, Meier said, she believes Drew "played with fire" and should receive the maximum penalty: 20 years in prison. Meier hopes the foundation's work will allow something right to come from a wrong. She is also working with https://www.stopcyberbullying.org on its efforts to prevent online harassment. And, she's encouraging people to take the Megan Pledge, an effort asking Internet users to stop bullying. Talking about Megan's experience to middle and high school students is something Meier said she feels she needs to do. She tells them Megan was a real girl, with real dreams, and talks to them about how taunting other children can have consequences. Some kids tell her they are having a tough time. Others have admitted bullying classmates, and say they'll try to change their ways. "I just get my head in a different place. I just go, and I talk to them because my goal is, if there's one child I can change or help in any way, that's what I focus on," Meier said. Friends and foundation colleagues Christine Buckles and Paul Arthur believe the foundation's work has been helpful to her. "They say a mother is the strongest woman in the world. That's absolutely true with Tina," Arthur said. Meier believes the work of the foundation is making a difference because she hears from people who tell her so. "I'm going to try and do the best I can do to, hopefully, know that no other family goes through this," she said. |
You can click on the link above and read the whole story.
When I read the headline at first I thought it was talking about the Mom who was guilty of the crime-not the mother of the victim. This story reminds me of the wise words: If you are depressed, then serve someone (or something like that). Basically I hope that through serving the community in hopes to stop this type of thing it will help comfort her soul for her loss.
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TOPIC: Us 'cyber-bully' Mother Indicted