Woman Indicted in MySpace Bullying Case
Category: InternetPosted: May 16, 2008 07:15AM
Author: Nemo
A federal grand jury has handed down indictments on four separate charges against a woman accused in a 2006 online bullying case which resulted in the suicide of her 13-year old victim. Lori Drew, from O'Fallon, Missouri, was charged with one count of conspiracy and 3 counts of unauthorized computer access. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison for each charge. According to the indictment, Ms. Drew created a phony account on MySpace under the name Josh Evans and used it to contact the 13-year old girl, Megan Meier, a neighbor and former friend of Drew's daughter. After several weeks of chatting, Megan began receiving nasty messages from the fictitious Josh Evans, the last of which suggested the "world would be a better place" without her. Megan committed suicide by hanging herself at home. The case was investigated by local authorities who failed to bring charges. Federal prosecutors decided to bring charges in California where MySpace and its servers are located. Drew has repeatedly denied creating the fictitious account.
