Lori Drew, the alleged perpetrator behind a slate of nasty Myspace messages Megan Meier received from “Josh” that appear to have led to her suicide hours later, has been indicted by federal prosecutors in Missouri. We previously reported on the Megan Meier murder and noted last December how cowardly local prosecutors declined to prosecute Drew.
Drew was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of fraudulently gaining access to someone else’s computer. Lori Drew has denied creating the fake account or sending messages to Megan.
MySpace issued a statement saying it “does not tolerate cyberbullying” and was cooperating fully with the U.S. attorney.
U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien said this was the first time the federal statute on accessing protected computers has been used in a social-networking case. It has been used in the past to address hacking.
“This was a tragedy that did not have to happen,” O’Brien said at a Los Angeles press conference.
Both the girl and MySpace are named as victims in the case, he said.
The details of the indictment are telling:
Drew and her coconspirators “used the information obtained over the MySpace computer system to torment, harass, humiliate, and embarrass the juvenile MySpace member,” the indictment charged.
The indictment contends they committed or aided in a dozen “overt acts” that were illegal, including using a photograph of a boy that was posted without his knowledge or permission.
They used “Josh” to flirt with Megan, telling her she was “sexi,” the indictment charged.
Around Oct., 7, 2006, Megan was told “Josh” was moving away, prompting the girl to write: “aww sexi josh ur so sweet if u moved back u could see me up close and personal lol.”
Several days later, “Josh” urged the girl to call and added: “i love you so much.”
But on or about Oct. 16, “Josh” wrote to the girl and told her “in substance, that the world would be a better place without M.T.M. in it,” according to the indictment.
I reserve judgment on Drew’s guilt or innocence until it goes to trial. But I commend the federal prosecutors for stepping in to at least see justice have its day in court.
The fact the feds feel they have a strong enough case to indict is indicative, in my mind anyway, of the strength of their case.
Read the full story: Woman indicted in Missouri MySpace suicide case
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7 Responses to “Feds Indict Lori Drew in Megan Meier Case” (Pingbacks/trackbacks not shown below)
Esperanza at 3:18 am on
May 16th, 2008
Murder by control remote…
I have learned that social networking sites are not a safe space to discuss issues with great emotional significance. Revealing your vulnerabilities in such a public forum opens you up to angry extremists, sadistic pranksters, and (as in Megan’s case) people with personal vendettas. I use them only for private socializing with people with whom I already have relationships.
resonance at 11:07 am on
May 21st, 2008
Abusers also prey on those who reveal vulnerabilities in real life, and most abuse occurs between people with existing relationships, like Megan Meier and her abusers, who were neighbors. She would almost certainly have been more careful had her abusers not repeatedly lied to her about their identity.
People can lower their chances of being abused, although since the choice to abuse is the abuser’s, the only way to completely eliminate the chance of being abused is to interact with no one, which is not a financial or desirable option for most people. It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that it is difficult to develop close relationships without revealing emotional vulnerabilities.
I’ve personally found it valuable to use an anonymous support site as an adjunct to real-life friendships, although trolls being trolls, there’s always risk of being flamed or harassed.
Kim at 12:43 am on
June 6th, 2008
We live in a world where many people seek to diminish others in order to increase their sense of power. The only way to guard ourselves against those who want to ruin our lives is to have high self-esteem and to love our selves so much that no-one can diminish us. No matter what others say or do we know that we are valuable and that they are the true losers. There are so many great things in life to enjoy that have nothing to do with people (thank God) and focusing on those things is the only way to truly enjoy life because there will always be someone who wants to bully us and destroy us. We need to take our focus off of what other people think and do and focus on what makes us happy. Otherwise we are in bondage to a bunch of sadist pathetic losers.
Ivana at 11:59 am on
June 9th, 2008
Internet should not be regulated. It is a free medium of information exchange, just like the streets in our cities. Being anonymous is a great advantage of this medium, because it allows for expressing views without the fear of persecution.
Social networking sites are about as safe as local schools, workplaces, streets, shops, etc. You can talk to whoever you want to, but you don’t have to. What happened to Megan on MySpace, could have happened to her in her school. The only difference would be having a live person pretending to be this “Josh” instead of having a fake profile on the net.
Even if we assume that there was a real boy pretending to be Josh and telling Megan how much he loves her only to tell her later that the world would be a better place without her, he is still not responsible for her suicide in my opinion. In a more supportive environment, Megan would have someone to talk to about her emotional problems, and would realize that being dumped by a real or fake boyfriend is no reason for taking her own life.
I have been in a similar situation where I got bullied and emotionally hurt over the internet, but all it takes to stop people from hurting you on the net is turn off the computer, or click on the “Block” button.
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Murder by control remote…
I have learned that social networking sites are not a safe space to discuss issues with great emotional significance. Revealing your vulnerabilities in such a public forum opens you up to angry extremists, sadistic pranksters, and (as in Megan’s case) people with personal vendettas. I use them only for private socializing with people with whom I already have relationships.
Abusers also prey on those who reveal vulnerabilities in real life, and most abuse occurs between people with existing relationships, like Megan Meier and her abusers, who were neighbors. She would almost certainly have been more careful had her abusers not repeatedly lied to her about their identity.
People can lower their chances of being abused, although since the choice to abuse is the abuser’s, the only way to completely eliminate the chance of being abused is to interact with no one, which is not a financial or desirable option for most people. It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that it is difficult to develop close relationships without revealing emotional vulnerabilities.
I’ve personally found it valuable to use an anonymous support site as an adjunct to real-life friendships, although trolls being trolls, there’s always risk of being flamed or harassed.
We live in a world where many people seek to diminish others in order to increase their sense of power. The only way to guard ourselves against those who want to ruin our lives is to have high self-esteem and to love our selves so much that no-one can diminish us. No matter what others say or do we know that we are valuable and that they are the true losers. There are so many great things in life to enjoy that have nothing to do with people (thank God) and focusing on those things is the only way to truly enjoy life because there will always be someone who wants to bully us and destroy us. We need to take our focus off of what other people think and do and focus on what makes us happy. Otherwise we are in bondage to a bunch of sadist pathetic losers.
Internet should not be regulated. It is a free medium of information exchange, just like the streets in our cities. Being anonymous is a great advantage of this medium, because it allows for expressing views without the fear of persecution.
Social networking sites are about as safe as local schools, workplaces, streets, shops, etc. You can talk to whoever you want to, but you don’t have to. What happened to Megan on MySpace, could have happened to her in her school. The only difference would be having a live person pretending to be this “Josh” instead of having a fake profile on the net.
Even if we assume that there was a real boy pretending to be Josh and telling Megan how much he loves her only to tell her later that the world would be a better place without her, he is still not responsible for her suicide in my opinion. In a more supportive environment, Megan would have someone to talk to about her emotional problems, and would realize that being dumped by a real or fake boyfriend is no reason for taking her own life.
I have been in a similar situation where I got bullied and emotionally hurt over the internet, but all it takes to stop people from hurting you on the net is turn off the computer, or click on the “Block” button.
