Posted on 06/16/2008 3:18:52 PM PDT by Mad Dawgg
Lori Drew, accused of helping create a fake MySpace profile and using it to harass a 13-year-old Dardenne Prairie girl who later killed herself, pleaded not guilty this morning in federal court in Los Angeles.
The pleas were expected and a minor milestone leading up to what the real battle will be in the case – whether prosecutors' use of a law normally used to target computer hackers will work in a cyber bullying case.
Megan Meier, who struggled with depression, hung herself in her bedroom Oct. 16, 2006 , shortly after receiving this message: “The world would be a better place without you.” Megan thought it was from “Josh Evans,” a 16-year-old boy with whom she'd developed an online relationship, but officials said the boy was a creation of Drew and others designed to find out what Megan was saying about Drew's daughter, who was a former friend of Megan.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
That's pretty pathetic.
Pathetic is on the long-list of adjectives that can be applied to this vile woman. Another one that applies rhymes with an oft used play in Football.
It's beyond that.
But, unfortunately, the prosecutor's legal theory is not going to stand up in court. He charged her with computer hacking, on the theory that anyone who posts on a website while violating that website's terms of service is, in effect, a hacker.
I hope they archived those postings, as she is hosed if they did.
The girl who killed herself was on anti depressants or other meds, because she had issues. So, this pathetic woman messes with her, and it drove her over the edge? ok.
Still not a crime..IMO.
I’ve already said that I don’t think that nasty behavior on line is a criminal (in this case federal) offense. They have based their case on the fact that the defendant violated the law and created unlawful computer entry because of false information (i.e., age and sex) on the MySpace profile.
If this case holds, there will be a broad precedent for criminal prosecution for ANY actions if your profile is not 100 per cent accurate. I’m surprised that the EFF is not yet involved in this case.
On the other hand, I think that the parents of the victim have a rock solid case for a civil harassment, etc., law suit against the perpretrators.
Actually I think it is a crime for an adult to have sexual internet conversations with a 13-year-old girl. (Which this sick woman did, pretending to be a teenage boy.)
If this was a man we’d be calling him a predator. I don’t know if this woman had a lesbian interest in the poor girl or was just pretending to be attracted to her in order to hurt her feelings but either way, her actions are the same. If an adult behaving sexually with a 13-year-old causes the child to have a mental breakdown that is absolutely the adult’s fault. I don’t care if it’s in person or online. It’s perverted.
But, she had sexual conversations with this girl online. And she knew the girl was only 13. That is really bordering on pedophilia. She sexually manipulated a child. Yes it was only online but still there has to be something illegal about a grown woman pretending to be a boy to send dirty messages to a 13-year-old girl.
May this woman rot in hell.
Fine, don’t prosecute her. Let the other gals mom have fifteen minutes with her with a baseball bat wrapped in concertina wire.
Failing that, I hope she gets sued so bad her heirs five generations later will still be trying to pay it off.
In this Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 file photo, Tina Meier holds two pictures of her daughter Megan who committed suicide last October after receiving cruel messages on MySpace, in St. Charles, Mo. The woman accused of sending the messages is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday, June 16, 2008. ( AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File)
She has a son. I would consider emancipation.
Yeah, she should rot in Hell, along side with Saddam Hussein, 9/11 Hijackers, Elizabeth Bathory, John Wayne Gacy, and Seung-Hui Cho. They are all rotten scumbags of the lowest kind like her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.