World of Psychology

Megan Meier’s Suicide by Online Harassment Goes Unpunished

By John M Grohol PsyD
December 3, 2007

We’re disappointed to learn today that the prosecutor in St. Charles county couldn’t figure out how to prosecute the people partially responsible for 13-year-old’s Megan Meier’s death. Good ‘ole county prosecutor Jack Banas said that based on available evidence, the actions of the people involved in the Internet bullying did not meet the standards required by state laws for either harassment, stalking or endangering the welfare of a child.

Really? Wow, that’s amazing. Either those must be weakest, dumbest state laws in existence meant to protect victims, or someone has cold feet in prosecuting a case bound to get continued national attention.

Megan Meier’s parents said her suicide was the result of harassment via her Myspace page:

Her parents said an adult neighbor created a teenaged boy who pretended to be interested in Megan before he began bullying her. The neighbors admitted to police that they created the account.

[...]
Megan hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, shortly after receiving cruel messages on the social networking website MySpace. Megan’s parents, Ron and Tina Meier, found out six weeks after Megan’s death that the boy their daughter had been chatting with online never existed.

The boy’s profile, they learned, was the creation of Lori Drew, her daughter and Drew’s employee, Ashley Grills. The Drews and the Meiers live four doors apart on Waterford Crystel Drive in Dardenne Prairie.

Vicki Dunn, who is Tina Meier’s aunt, said she was disappointed in Banas’ decision, but she understood the limitations of state law. “I’m not happy with what’s happened,” she said. “All we can do is move forward and look at the bigger picture, and get laws changed.”

It’s sad that even the opportunity for justice won’t be available to the family of Megan Meier. We believe they — and the citizens of St. Charles County — deserve better.

Read the full article: No charges in Myspace suicide case


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Links to This Article

From Psych Central's World of Psychology:
Cyber Harassment; how can you protect your children? - World of Psychology (12/8/2007)

From Psych Central's World of Psychology:
Feds Indict Lori Drew in Megan Meier Case - World of Psychology (5/15/2008)

8 Comments to
“Megan Meier’s Suicide by Online Harassment Goes Unpunished”

It actually occurred in St. Charles County, across a Missouri River bridge from northwest St. Louis County. St. Charles (lived 5 min from it for 10 years) is a whole different demographic, political persuasion, etc.

Nevertheless, it’s still a wussy stance, regardless of where it came from.

Thanks, we’ve updated the entry to fix this error.

While the Megan Meier case seems outrageous and unique, it isn’t unique. Hundreds of cases of egregious and heinous acts go on every day with the same excuses out of our lawmakers.

One such other case….The case of Nikki Catsouras, is a classic example of disgusting, hateful activity against innocent victims, while our lawmakers excuse themselves from enacting laws to prevent this.

The excuse lawmakers use to let themselves off the hook stem from the growth of the Internet and how fast it’s changing. This is a sham.

Chat rooms, message boards, instant messengers and email have been in existence for far over a decade now. While the software used to transmit messages changes slightly, the basic essence of using the Internet to send a message is largely the same. Is a decade or two long enough to establish some basic decency laws in regards to Internet usage?

I’ve posted the Nikki Catsouras story along with many details about the Megan Meier case so the inactivity out of our lawmakers towards these types of cases can be clearly seen.

Those who are interested in learning about cases like Megan’s and Nikki’s case are encouraged to drop by and comment on them if you like. I have a couple of polls set up as well. Danny Vice would like to hear your point of view.

Public awareness of the problem and discussions about possible solutions are the best way to pressure elected officials into action instead of excuse making.

I invite you to come by and share your opinion.

Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com

Jan 8, 2008 (The Weekly Vice) - The tragic case of Megan Meier, a Dardenne Prairie teenager who hung herself after she she was bullied through a MySpace account, has taken on new life.

A Federal grand jury in Los Angeles has commenced issuing subpoenas in the case of the 13 year old teen who was stalked, harassed and bullied for weeks via the teenager’s MySpace account.

Local officials in Dardenne Prairie dismissed the case citing that the case did not rise to the level of a broken law, which outraged an entire nation who expressed their anger and grief at countless websites and blogs across the Internet.

Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, however, are exploring the possibility of charging Drew with defrauding MySpace by creating the false account that she, her daughter and another person used to communicate with Megan according to the Los Angeles Times.

The grand jury issued several subpoenas last week, including one to MySpace and others to “witnesses in the case.” according to the LA times source.

The prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction because MySpace — the would-be victim — is based in Beverly Hills, the sources said.

While the subpoenas breath new life into a case many view as an instance of injustice served by authorities in the case, experts are stressing caution, when it comes to what might inevitably be achieved by this unprecedented action.

Charges under this category of law would not yield the kind of justice many would like to see happen in the Megan Meier case. It’s also important to note that this is relatively new territory for any prosecutor to go

Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com

Thanks for the update, Danny!

Suicide is a crime in the U.S.. It amazes me that people try to put blame on everyone except the parents and the girl that was clearly mentally deranged in order to commit such an act as suicide. They should be treating this as a case where the criminal died at her own hands. If there is anyone at fault it would be the parents for not teaching her better. It is also a mortal sin just in case you Christians have forgotten, which is unforgivable. After watching her mother on T.V. I can understand why she would want to die. It is a shame that she wasn’t taught any better.

I would just like to say to John that he is very wrong. Suicide is NOT a crime in the US. According to my reliable information this law you speak about does NO longer exsist in any of states of the US. And believe me I studied up on this well before coming here to post, unlike you who obviviously did NOT before spurring out all those untruths. And again it is not in the Christian Bible anywhere that if a man takes his life it is a sin NOR does it say it is unforgivable. It’s people like you who lack compassion and respect who continue to cause stigma that hurts the survivors of suicide even more. You should take time to study upon these issues before you go spurring out untruths. Shame on you!

Lori Drew should been charged and sent to jail . It sounds like Lori Drew moved to california , to get away from this because she only lived a few doors from Megan Meier.

Lori Drew is an adult , she’s acting more like a child herself . She was 100% at fault .

She should of went to Jail ,instead of enjoying luxury in california .

She’s a murder .

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 5 Dec 2007

 


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