Does anyone remember Lori Drew?
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, 13, hanged herself at home in October 2006 after receiving cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.
Of course she denies creating the account and these cruel behaviors. There’s at least enough for an indictment:
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted a Missouri woman Thursday for her alleged role in a MySpace hoax on a teen neighbor who committed suicide after being spurned by the “boy” in the fake profile.
Lori Drew, of Dardenne Prairie near 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.
I don’t know how solid this case is against her, but I’m happy that efforts are being made to punish this crime. Do I think the maximum sentence of up to 20 years would be enough if she’s found guilty? Not really. A grown woman doing something that was much more cruel than a teenager could even contemplate is simply revolting. The internet plays an ever-growing part in every day life and kids should feel just as safe there as they would in their own backyards - I’m not crazy and I do know it’s a long way off to reach that goal, but it’s unfortunate that anyone would behave this way, much less an adult that should be setting the example, not pushing a 13-year-old to hang herself.
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"kids should feel just as safe there as they would in their own backyards "
In many parts of America, the kids are not safe in their own yards. Sad, eh?
