Guilty Verdict for Missouri Mom Turned Cyber-Bully

photo: JOID
By Kara Andrade
November 26, 2008 at 12:26pm
The Los Angeles Times reports that a Los Angeles federal jury today convicted a Missouri mom Lori Drew of misdemeanor charges (yes, just misdemeanor charges!) in the MySpace cyber-bullying case involving the suicide of a 13-year-old girl. Back in 2006 Drew had created a bogus MySpace account of "Josh Evans," a 16-year-old boy. She then had an online relationship with 13-year-old Megan Meier of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., who hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006 after “Josh Evans,” told her the world would be a better place without her.

It's sad to think that much of the "blame" was put on Megan, "a deeply troubled teen who had already considered suicide" and that there is no statute under which Drew can be charged. Cyber-bully is just one of those amorphoroust often ocurring behaviors that many people deal with, but the law can't quite grasp.

Want to learn more about cyber-bullying? Check these Web sites:

Abc News
Cyberbulling.us
Netsmartz
 

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Kara Andrade