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No Charges Filed in MySpace Suicide Case
Published December 03, 2007 12:00 AM
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. CHARLES, Mo. _ The St. Charles County prosecutor said Monday there will be no criminal charges filed in the case of the teenage girl who committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet.
Prosecutor Jack Banas said that based on available evidence, the actions of the people involved in the Internet bullying did not meet the standards required by state laws for either harassment, stalking or endangering the welfare of a child.
Banas announced his decision at a news conference called to discuss the Megan Meier case. Megan, 13, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., hanged herself last year. Her parents said her suicide was the result of harassment via her MySpace web page.
Her parents said an adult neighbor created a teenage boy who pretended to be interested in Megan before he began bullying her. The neighbors admitted to police that they created the account.
The prosecutor's office had been investigating whether any laws were broken or charges could be filed.
Megan hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, shortly after receiving cruel messages on the social networking Web site MySpace. Megan's parents, Ron and Tina Meier, found out six weeks after Megan's death that the boy their daughter had been chatting with online never existed.
The boy's profile, they learned, was the creation of Lori Drew, her daughter and Drew's employee, Ashley Grills. The Drews and the Meiers live four doors apart in Dardenne Prairie.
Vicki Dunn, who is Tina Meier's aunt, said she was disappointed in Banas' decision, but she understood the limitations of state law. "I'm not happy with what's happened," she said. "All we can do is move forward and look at the bigger picture, and get laws changed."
Banas said the fake MySpace page was not the creation of Lori Drew. He said the Web site was created by Grills, 18, and that Drew was aware that she had created the profile.
For six weeks, Megan exchanged messages with Josh Evans through MySpace. The password to the fake MySpace account was later given to another teenage girl, Banas said, who sent messages to Megan, as Josh Evans, saying Megan was mean and no longer wanted to be her friend.
It was Grills who sent the last message before Megan committed suicide, Banas said. That message, through Josh Evans' profile, said something to the effect of, "The world would be a better place without you," Banas said.
"I think you have a lot of facts that have gone out across this country that are a misstatement of facts," Banas said.
Last fall, Megan and the Drew's daughter were friends but had been quarreling. According to a police report, Lori Drew said she had "instigated and monitored" the fake MySpace account because wanted to know what Megan was saying online about her daughter.
Both the FBI and St. Charles County Sheriff's Department investigated the Meier case over the past year and could find no appropriate criminal charge. Prosecutors didn't see a crime either, and high-profile law firms did not pursue a civil suit.
The Meiers have sworn to fight for new laws that punish people for online misconduct.
Last month, Dardenne Prairie and Florissant, Mo., passed ordinances making Internet harassment a crime. In coming weeks, St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Charles, O'Fallon, Mo., and St. Charles County are expected to consider similar measures targeting online harassment.
Also, state lawmakers have promised to introduce legislation designed to protect the people who communicate over the Web and punish those who abuse it.
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(c) 2007, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Visit the Post-Dispatch on the World Wide Web at http://www.stltoday.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Published December 03, 2007 12:00 AM
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. CHARLES, Mo. _ The St. Charles County prosecutor said Monday there will be no criminal charges filed in the case of the teenage girl who committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet.
Prosecutor Jack Banas said that based on available evidence, the actions of the people involved in the Internet bullying did not meet the standards required by state laws for either harassment, stalking or endangering the welfare of a child.
Banas announced his decision at a news conference called to discuss the Megan Meier case. Megan, 13, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., hanged herself last year. Her parents said her suicide was the result of harassment via her MySpace web page.
Her parents said an adult neighbor created a teenage boy who pretended to be interested in Megan before he began bullying her. The neighbors admitted to police that they created the account.
The prosecutor's office had been investigating whether any laws were broken or charges could be filed.
Megan hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, shortly after receiving cruel messages on the social networking Web site MySpace. Megan's parents, Ron and Tina Meier, found out six weeks after Megan's death that the boy their daughter had been chatting with online never existed.
The boy's profile, they learned, was the creation of Lori Drew, her daughter and Drew's employee, Ashley Grills. The Drews and the Meiers live four doors apart in Dardenne Prairie.
Vicki Dunn, who is Tina Meier's aunt, said she was disappointed in Banas' decision, but she understood the limitations of state law. "I'm not happy with what's happened," she said. "All we can do is move forward and look at the bigger picture, and get laws changed."
Banas said the fake MySpace page was not the creation of Lori Drew. He said the Web site was created by Grills, 18, and that Drew was aware that she had created the profile.
For six weeks, Megan exchanged messages with Josh Evans through MySpace. The password to the fake MySpace account was later given to another teenage girl, Banas said, who sent messages to Megan, as Josh Evans, saying Megan was mean and no longer wanted to be her friend.
It was Grills who sent the last message before Megan committed suicide, Banas said. That message, through Josh Evans' profile, said something to the effect of, "The world would be a better place without you," Banas said.
"I think you have a lot of facts that have gone out across this country that are a misstatement of facts," Banas said.
Last fall, Megan and the Drew's daughter were friends but had been quarreling. According to a police report, Lori Drew said she had "instigated and monitored" the fake MySpace account because wanted to know what Megan was saying online about her daughter.
Both the FBI and St. Charles County Sheriff's Department investigated the Meier case over the past year and could find no appropriate criminal charge. Prosecutors didn't see a crime either, and high-profile law firms did not pursue a civil suit.
The Meiers have sworn to fight for new laws that punish people for online misconduct.
Last month, Dardenne Prairie and Florissant, Mo., passed ordinances making Internet harassment a crime. In coming weeks, St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Charles, O'Fallon, Mo., and St. Charles County are expected to consider similar measures targeting online harassment.
Also, state lawmakers have promised to introduce legislation designed to protect the people who communicate over the Web and punish those who abuse it.
___
(c) 2007, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Visit the Post-Dispatch on the World Wide Web at http://www.stltoday.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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I have been here before, a long long time ago and now I am back.Forgive me for not just saying what I want to say,even under a triple dose of antidepressants it is still raw and seeping and I am hesitant at revealing it as at least under the bandages around my heart I don,t have to look at how raw and wounded.My child was cleaved from my heart by his own actions. my child of ten,turning eleven...
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theatre and I are there already. I'm having a very berry tea with crackers, cheese and cherry tomatoes and she's having a joint with some beer and we're both on really comfy recliners on thick pile carpet. we need some help with the decor if anyone is around??
It just shows that you need to always carry a healthy skepticism about people on the Internet, unfortunately...
i agree with you jann
x
I hope there is some wa the parents can be charged, they KNEW the girl was depressed, what kind of horrible ADULTS would do that to a child??