Posted on 11/18/2007 6:50:42 AM PST by LurkedLongEnough
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. (AP) -- Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her.
Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel.
The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of Megan's.
Now Megan's parents hope the people who made the fraudulent profile on the social networking Web site will be prosecuted, and they are seeking legal changes to safeguard children on the Internet.
The girl's mother, Tina Meier, said she doesn't think anyone involved intended for her daughter to kill herself.
"But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old, with or without mental problems, it is absolutely vile," she told the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which first reported on the case.
Tina Meier said law enforcement officials told her the case did not fit into any law. But sheriff's officials have not closed the case and pledged to consider new evidence if it emerges.
Megan Meier hanged herself in her bedroom on Oct. 16, 2006, and died the next day. She was described as a "bubbly, goofy" girl who loved spending time with her friends, watching movies and fishing with her dad.
Megan had been on medication, but had been upbeat before her death, her mother said, after striking up a relationship on MySpace with Josh Evans about six weeks before her death.
Josh told her he was born in Florida and had recently moved to the nearby community of O'Fallon. He said he was homeschooled, and didn't yet have a phone number in the area to give her.
Megan's parents said she received a message from him on Oct. 15 of last year, essentially saying he didn't want to be her friend anymore, that he had heard she wasn't nice to her friends.
The next day, as Megan's mother headed out the door to take another daughter to the orthodontist, she knew Megan was upset about Internet messages. She asked Megan to log off. Users on MySpace must be at least 14, though Megan was not when she opened her account. A MySpace spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.
Someone using Josh's account was sending cruel messages. Then, Megan called her mother, saying electronic bulletins were being posted about her, saying things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat."
Megan's mother, who monitored her daughter's online communications, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her own daughter was sending. She told her daughter how upset she was about it.
Megan ran upstairs, and her father, Ron, tried to tell her everything would be fine. About 20 minutes later, she was found in her bedroom. She died the next day.
Her father said he found a message the next day from Josh, which he said law enforcement authorities have not been able to retrieve. It told the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her, he has said.
Another parent, who learned of the MySpace account from her own daughter who had access to the Josh profile, told Megan's parents about the hoax in a counselor's office about six weeks after Megan died. That's when they learned Josh was imaginary, they said.
The woman who created the fake profile has not been charged with a crime. She allegedly told the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department she created Josh's profile because she wanted to gain Megan's confidence to know what Megan was saying about her own child online.
The mother from down the street told police that she, her daughter and another person all typed and monitored the communication between the fictitious boy and Megan.
A person who answered the door at the family's house told an Associated Press reporter on Friday afternoon that they had been advised not to comment.
Megan's parents had been storing a foosball table for the family that created the MySpace character. Six weeks after Megan's death, they learned the other family had created the profile and responded by destroying the foosball table, dumping it on the neighbors' driveway and encouraging them to move away.
Megan's parents are now separated and plan to divorce.
Aldermen in Dardenne Prairie, a community of about 7,000 residents about 35 miles from St. Louis, have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. It could come before city leaders on Wednesday.
"Is this enough?" Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. "No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something, and you have to start somewhere."
I completely agree.
Medication is the new babysitter for teachers and parents. My nephew is extremely smart and funny - a really special kid - but his teachers are all the time sending notes home to my sister to take him to the doctor and get him checked for this or that - the latest is his “thyroid”.
He’s a normal, active kid that gets good grades - but he likes to clown a bit in class and makes funny comments that make the other kids laugh in class.
It’s an absolute travesty that schools won’t let kids - especially boys - be normal kids anymore.
Bit of a social darwinist attitude to have were the evil are allowed to prey on the weak?
What those adults did to a a CHILD of 13 who they ALREADY KNEW had mental health issues was sick, and they certainly deserve to be punished for it. If I had a child with emotional problems and some idiot tipped them over the edge like this, I would expect the law to give me justice, and if it didn’t, I’d go over there myself and exact my retribution and laugh afterwards as they dragged me off to jail...
They haven’t disclosed the medicine she was taking or whether they were switching meds around to see what worked and didn’t work )or did they). Most come with lots of warnings.
I’m sure a lot of parents pulled similar stunts in the 70s and 80s (not so high-tech times) but the internet can make reeking havoc more efficient.
You sound exactly like those people who hid behind the fictitious "Josh account" to abuse the girl. Now, if you were a real man (or whatever), you'd go visit her father and say that in person.
True, but then should someone could decide to have a bonfire for a large hot dog roast at the these perverts home I would hope someone would take pictures. The foundation could always be used for a place for normal people to live.
If the girl hanged herself over an *internet* friend that she had only known for a few weeks then she was a suicide waiting to happen.If it wasn’t “Josh” who sent her over the edge it would have been some history teacher who had the audacity to give her a C- in a midterm exam or some kid at the library who called her “poopy pants”.
Well, the father didn’t have to balls to go kick some ass, instead venting on a football table. how passive aggressive.
Parents should monitor their kids’ internet use.
Kids should be taught that just because they read something on the internet doesn’t make it true.
Adults should not correspond with children on the internet unless they are related to those children.
I needed (and got) structure and discipline. And yes, a little more attention from teachers and my parents.
Parents and teachers today don't have the time or the inclination. Parents are so guilty about pursuing their own lives that they don't dare discipline their kids -- they want to be "friends".
"Mother's little helper" used to refer to mom's pills -- today it refers to Ritalin given to kids.
Apparently though, her parents were not involved enough to what she was doing on the internet.
Was she SENT to her room?? or WENT to her room? There is a difference!!
Taking the law in to your own hands has worked out really well for OJ. Were you his adviser? :)
Using foul language sounds like she was fighting back.
Her mother effectively stepped in the ring on Josh's side.
Regardless, it's more likely the meds than anything else.
My heart does go out to the parents in every way. What a terrible loss.
She didn't know the friend was fictitious just as I don't know if you are fictitious.
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