Megan Meier’s parents - Tina Meier and Ron Meier.
Posted on 11/21/2007 9:26:06 AM PST by Between the Lines
An Internet hoax that apparently led to the suicide of a teenage girl has stoked outrage online, divided the suburb where the girl lived and prompted calls to reform online harassment laws.
About a year ago, 13-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself inside her parents' home in Dardenne Prairie, Ill. The apparent cause, her parents have said, was the sudden decline of her online relationship with a 16-year-old boy they thought was named Josh Evans.
But, soon after their daughter's death, Tina and Ron Meier discovered that there was no Josh Evans. They say the boy who pretended to be Megan's friend and then sent her nasty messages was the creation of an adult neighbor.
Though police and prosecutors have investigated, a year later, no criminal charges have been filed against the woman who allegedly created the online profile, and it's unclear whether any will be brought.
But that hasn't stopped an outpouring of hostility against her, both online and in the real world. The story hit the national media late last week, with Megan's parents appearing on "Good Morning America" and the "Today" show. Though the newspapers and networks declined to identify the real-life "Josh Evans," bloggers quickly outed her and posted her family's name, address and phone number online.
Since then, messages threatening the family have been posted online. A brick was thrown through their window. Someone drove a truck over their front lawn, according to police. A paint-ball was shot against the house.
The woman, who also has a young daughter, has received threatening phone calls; people have screamed obscenities as they drive by the house, a neighbor said. Police descended on the house in the middle of the night last week, neighbors said, after an apparent fake 911 call was made.
Police are concerned that the harassment, first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, may escalate.
"We believe that all the publicity about this situation has led to an air of vigilantism," said Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department. "We're concerned people will take things into their own hands."
Megan, who sometimes suffered from low self-esteem and depression, was elated when she got an e-mail on the social networking site MySpace from a cute boy named "Josh Evans," her parents said. Josh claimed to be a 16-year-old boy who lived nearby. He said he was home-schooled and didn't yet have a phone.
The two developed a virtual friendship that lasted more than a month before things inexplicably took a downward turn. "Megan gets an e-mail, or a message from Josh on her MySpace on Oct. 15, 2006, saying, 'I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends,'" Tina Meier said on "GMA."
Insulting messages calling Megan "fat" and a "slut" were being posted, according to The Associated Press.
Tina Meier discovered her daughter's body in a bedroom closet the next day. She had hanged herself.
Six weeks after Megan's death, a neighbor told the Meiers that there was no Josh Evans. He was a fictitious creation of woman whose daughter knew Megan and lived down the street.
The Meiers knew the woman who allegedly created the profile. Her family had asked the Meiers whether they could store their foosball table. The woman attended Megan's funeral, according to the AP.
Once they learned of the family's involvement, the Meiers allegedly destroyed the table, placed it in the woman's yard and encouraged the family to move, according to the AP.
The Meiers said they don't think the woman wanted Megan to commit suicide. But they still hold her responsible for their daughter's death.
"I believe they are the ones who took her to the edge of the cliff and forced her to go over," Ron Meier said. "Everything that we found out so far — it was the sole idea of the mother."
No charges have been filed in the case and the local prosecutor has said it appears no laws were broken. McGuire said the sheriff's department and local and federal prosecutors investigated the case and concluded that they could not file criminal charges.
But, it appears that the Josh Evans profile and messages could have violated a federal cyberstalking law, which prevents people from sending abusive or threatening messages, said Perry Aftab, a cyberlaw expert. Aftab, who runs WiredSafety, which helps victims of so-called cyberabuse, said this was one of the few instances she could recall of adults harassing children online.
The involvement of an adult set Megan's story apart from traditional cyberbullying, she said. "This is particularly heinous," she added.
Some neighbors of the family accused of setting up the profile agreed.
"I do think it's criminal, and I think they should be held responsible for it," said Terri Hutchinson.
With the publicity, county prosecutor Jack Banas has said he will re-examine the case. Wednesday, the local town council will propose an ordinance that will criminalize this kind of online harassment, making it a misdemeanor, said Pam Fogarty, the mayor of Dardenne Prairie.
"It's not much, but at least it's something," Fogarty said of the proposed ordinance. "I think it's absolutely horrible that an adult can do this to a child, much less the mother of a friend and there is nothing to charge her with."
Good lord! A strong adult would be stung by those words, but young teen would be destroyed by them.
Geez louise, some folks are just pure mean.
“That said, I feel bad for their own teenage daughter”
I did too, until I read she was also involved in this. This family has shown no remorse. Read the police report, they don’t think they did anything wrong. They tried to blame the poor girl. They have sued the girls family. They are wrong and very very evil. I hope the husband loses his job and they lose their business. I hear their customers are turning against them left and right. I hope they get sued for every last dime they have, and go to jail to boot.
“As noted on Ingrahams hosted ‘The Factor’ in BOR’s place, there is a federal law that pertains here, and should have already been used to charge at least the ‘mother’ that perpetrated this hoax.”
The reason that is not being used is that it will likely get struck down as an unconstitutional law. Either way, it probably doesn’t apply here as “harassment”, anyway.
The child did not have to log onto MySpace. The child could have made her profile private. The child could have blocked the person in question from leaving her messages.
I feel terrible for the girl’s family but if that drove her to suicide, she would have NEVER made it through high-school.
You can let the local officials know what you think:
Jack Banas, Prosecuting Attorney
Courts Administration Building
Room 601
300 North Second Street
St. Charles, MO 63301
PH: 636-949-7355
Fax: 636-949-7360
Phone: (636)949-1818
Tom Neer,
St Charles County Sheriff Department
101 Sheriff Dierker Court
O’ Fallon, MO 63366
Phone: (636) 949-1818
Fax: (636) 949-3078
E-Mail: sheriff@sccmo.org
Rep. Doug Funderburk
MO House of Representatives
201 West Capitol Avenue
Room 236B Jefferson City MO 65101
Now, I’m opposed to posting other peoples contact information online, but whitepages.com isn’t:
“Good lord! A strong adult would be stung by those words, but young teen would be destroyed by them.”
What? Are you serious?
I watched a documentary on special-needs adoption yesterday. What those kids went through made this girl’s life look like a fairy tale utopia. Somehow, they weren’t “destroyed”.
‘The reason that is not being used is that it will likely get struck down as an unconstitutional law. Either way, it probably doesn’t apply here as “harassment”, anyway.’
I disagree with your first assertion, and no way you can convince me this wasn’t not only ‘harrassment’ but also ‘stalking’.
‘The child did not have to log onto MySpace. The child could have made her profile private. The child could have blocked the person in question from leaving her messages.’
A child, age 14, being approached under false pretense by an adult is what this is all about. Not the child, nor the child’s actions.
‘I feel terrible for the girl’s family but if that drove her to suicide, she would have NEVER made it through high-school.’
I don’t see how you can make that particular prediction about not making it through highschool based on whats available publicly. Millions of others have, many with much worse problems than this girl.
Megan Meier’s parents - Tina Meier and Ron Meier.
There would not be an air of vigilantism if the law and courts did their job! When I heard this story the last couple days, i did not realize this happened a year ago. People are getting tired of the law not doing what they are suppose to be doing!
Depends on the fragility of the child I guess....we have a 4 to 17 y/o peds psych unit with 15 beds....we have lots of damaged kids.
Mostly by physical abuse/neglect, but words do harm and most are usually admitted after something verbal that sets them off (into a rage, a runaway episode or a suicide attempt).
Granted, I’m there for the eating disorders/issues. And yes, even a 7 year old will quit eating if they are verbally bashed enough by a caregiver.
So I stand by what I said...if you have fragile child with a history of depression and you want that child to do harm to themselves, odds are sentences like the one sent to them could do it...
Maybe not suicide, but cutting, a 3 day crying jag, an eating disorder...you name it, it has a root.
Do you think you should go to prison for your actions?
In another report, it stated they did this because they wanted to know what Megan thought of their daughter. Sad case all the way around.
Thanks for the correction. I have to wonder if ABC did this intentionally to protect themselves from any liability.
They wanted to be seen as cool by their kids and stooped to the level of a child in doing so.
“So calling someone names under a fake moniker is illegal?”
Making that illegal would eliminate half the political threads on FreeRepublic.
No, harassment is illegal.
Goodbye internet.
On the contrary, goodbye spam.
I posted an article the other day on this subject:
The Death of the Grownup(How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization)
“They’re reaping what they’ve sown. If an adult drove my child to suicide in this way it wouldn’t have taken a year to exact justice.”
Maybe the same rule should apply to media reporters - famous case in Oklahoma where reporters hounded the son of the Governor, and the son killed himself over the harrassment. And Admiral Borda (sp?) in early days of Clinton Admin who killed himself over constant hounding by media.
If you spent weeks gaining the confidance of a fragile person, becoming their emotional anchor, under a false persona, and then turned on them - you deserve to be despised and shunned. If you do it to a child, resulting in the child’s suicide - jail, civil suit, everything that can be milked out of the law.
Different from a single hurtful response, and I have seen a ghastly one here on FR, that could conceivably have pushed an unstable person over the edge, but not likely.
Related:
Parents Say Online Bullies Caused Daughter’s Suicide
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1928827/posts
Mother: Hoax on MySpace triggered daughter’s suicide
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1927480/posts
Law lags as taunts ruin lives
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1928220/posts
Parents of MySpace hoax victim seek justice [teen killed herself over hoax]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1928108/posts
Mother: Hoax on MySpace triggered daughter’s suicide
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1927480/posts
My Space’ hoax ends with suicide of Dardenne Prairie teen
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1925716/posts
POKIN AROUND: A real person, a real death
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1924847/posts
Yes, they sadistically manipulate a young girl to torment her although I do concede the suicide was her(Megan’s) fault but none the less these people are obviously not of sound mind and should be, how should I say... Run out on a rail.
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