“A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Lori Drew, from Missouri, for her alleged role in the hoax on the social network against her 13 year-old neighbour Megan Meier who committed suicide. Drew allegedly helped create a MySpace account with a false identity to contact Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16 year-old boy named Josh Evans. In reality Evans did not exist. Meier hanged herself at her home in October 2006 after receiving hostile messages from the Josh Evans account, including one stating the world would be better off without her. Drew faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
…
“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 O’Brien.”
I was horrified when I read the account around the time it happened. This woman should be treated like any other Internet Predator – as if keeping 13 year old girls away from male internet predators who would molest them wasn’t enough of a challenge, we have the mothers of other children convincing your child to kill him/herself?
If she’d gotten away with this, can you imagine what sort of horrors she could wreak in the future? What sort of person lords power over teenagers like this (other than teachers, parents and celebrities).
It’s a matter of intent. She intended to cause Megan Meier distress and she should pay for it.