Missouri mom indicted in deadly MySpace hoax

Mom indicted in deadly MySpace hoax

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A Missouri mother was indicted Thursday in the case of a teen who killed herself after being taunted on the social networking site MySpace.com.

A federal indictment accuses Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Missouri, of using a MySpace account to pose as a 16-year-old boy and feign romantic interest in the girl.

The girl, Megan Meier, committed suicide after her online love interest spurned her, according to prosecutors, telling her the world would be a better place without her.

Drew faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and accessing protected computers to obtain information to inflict emotional distress.

The indictment, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses Drew and others of registering on MySpace as "Josh Evans" and using the account to start an online romance with Meier.

Authorities have previously said that Drew set up the account to find out what Meier, who lived in her neighborhood, was saying about her daughter.
Prosecutors allege that Drew and the others violated MySpace's terms of service by using false information to create the account so they could "harass, abuse or harm" Meier, according to the indictment.

The two corresponded for about four weeks before "Josh" broke off the relationship, authorities said. Within an hour, Meier hanged herself in her room and died the next day.

The indictment does not allege that Drew sent the final message telling Meier the world would be a better place without her. Instead, it blames her unnamed co-conspirators, who authorities have previously said include a teenage girl.

After Drew learned of the teen's suicide, the indictment alleges, she directed one of the teens involved to "keep her mouth shut" and deleted the account.

Meier's mother, Tina Meier, told CNN in November that her daughter had self-esteem issues and had struggled with depression since childhood.

She said when her daughter began receiving messages from "Josh" telling her she was pretty, she was thrilled.

When "Josh" broke off the relationship, Tina Meier said, her daughter was devastated.

"She was looking for me to help calm herself down like I always did and be there for her. And I was upset because I didn't like the language she was using, and I was angry she didn't sign off when I told her to," Tina Meier told CNN.

"She said to me, 'You're supposed to be my mom, you're supposed to be on my side,' and then took off running upstairs," Tina Meier said.

Tina Meier found her daughter hanging by a belt shortly afterward

"It's as if my daughter killed herself with a gun," Meier's father, Ron, told CNN. "And it's as if they loaded the gun for her."

Drew is scheduled for arraignment in June.

"This adult woman allegedly used the Internet to target a young teenage girl, with horrendous ramifications," U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said in a written statement.

"Any adult who uses the Internet or a social gathering Web site to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realize that their actions can have serious consequences," O'Brien said.

In December, Missouri prosecutors declined to file charges against Drew, saying there was no law under which she could be charged.

I'm glad she was indicted, and I hope she goes to jail. Way too many people do intentionally mean, spiteful, and evil things online. Then they say "it's just the internet," as if that makes it all better. Just because you get to hide behind your monitor doesn't make it okay.

this is why i wish people would think before they post. you never know how much of an impact your words can have on someone who may already be in a world of hurt. the woman is certainly guilty as her intentions were malicious.

what a sick twisted fuck.....hope she gets convicted.....and more people get into legal troubles for cyber harrassing and cyber bullying.....this shit is rediculous

yes she should be punished in the most harshest of ways as her actions as an adult took anvanege of a child, punish her to the upmost,

People are funny when no one is looking...

Tragic.

GOOD!!!! I was hoping she'd be indicted!

OK, now we're going to have to debate this all over again! If she gets indicted, then there are probably thousands of other people that should be indicted also for doing stuff on the Internet. The mother of the girl that committed suicide let her daughter create a myspace account even though she was underage. I hope she goes to jail also. And what about the actual kids that sent the mean messages at the end that put her over the edge. Are they going to be charged with anything?

This women will not be found guilty but will have to spend a lot of money defending herself.

And there are thousands of other people who should be looked at for their malicious actions on the internet. If people are getting arrested for sending \/!@&ra spam to everyone, I think this also applies. ESPECIALLY when you consider the person causing the drama is a 49 year old mother. She should know better! But we have to treat each case differenty. I don't think the underaged girl was really at fault here. The parent should have done the correct thing and not allowed her daughter to be on MySpace until she's of proper age to do so.

20 years not enough for that fucking sick cunt....

very tragic, and I'm very sorry the girl is dead. the mother was wrong to do what she did.

what if "josh" had been a real person, and they had a 4 week relationship and broke up and she committed suicide. would we blame "josh"???

maybe the girl's parents should be held a little accountable for poor parenting skills, for not educating their daughter that sometimes you get kicked in the teeth (whatever) and you have to be tougher than what life throws at you. horse throws you, get up and get back on the horse. you have to be one resilient son of a bitch to make it in this world. personally, my own beliefs and religious upbringing in my youth have taught me suicide is a sin. despite that, I contemplated suicide twice when I was much younger. my parents religious beliefs compelled them to send their sons to church, probably saved my life.

If Josh was a real child, then I wouldn't blame him. Kids will be kids, and there would be adults on both ends (hopefully) to defuse the situation properly so that nobody dies.

Meh... Fuck the whole lot of 'em.

Lori Drew could certainly benefit from a lobotomy.

Even if she is not convicted, she should be the first name on a new national list: non-sexual child predators. She absolutely did engage in predatory behaviors toward a child, with malicious intent/intent to harm. She should be every bit as stigmatized as a sexual predator, should have to notify neighbors, should be barred from any activities, occupations, locations that put her in contact with children...