Strollerderby : megan meier

MySpace Hoax Mom Indicted

Kelly Mills — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:27:00 GMT

Remember Lori Drew? How about Megan Meier? Megan, a thirteen-year-old, hung herself after her MySpace boyfriend, Josh, cruelly dumped her. This itself would be bad enough, but the real ugly part is that Josh didn't exist. He was the creation of Lori Drew, who was Megan's neighbor and the mother of a girl Megan was once friends with. Drew, with the aid of a nineteen-year-old employee of hers, created Josh, maintained a relationship with Megan, laughed abut it and let her daughter and daughter's friend in on the joke, and then had "Josh" tell Megan the world would be better off without her.

Since being a phenomenally evil creep isn't a crime, investigators didn't charge Drew in the case. But now a federal grand jury has indicted her on one count of conspiracy and three counts of using protected computers without authorization to get information used to harass and torment a teenage girl. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The indictment includes the fact that MySpace users agree to terms forbidding users from promoting information they know to be false, soliciting personal information from anyone under eighteen, and using the site to harass others. Drew of course did all of the above. Too bad there isn't really a punishment that can make up for what she did.

Photo: Tom Gannam / AP

Update on Megan Meier Story: The Drews, and Making Online Harassment a Crime

Kelly Mills — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 14:09:00 GMT

Since the story of 13-year-old Megan Meier's suicide broke, the lives of Lori and Curt Drew have gotten real different. Lori Drew was the neighbor who created, along with an 18-year-old employee, a fictitious profile of a boy named "Josh" on MySpace. Megan considered Josh her boyfriend, and Lori Drew, her daughter, and the employee sent messages to Megan as Josh. When "Josh" abruptly broke off the relationship, saying he heard she wasn't nice to her friends, and others joined the online fray, sending insulting messages to Megan, she went upstairs to her bedroom and hung herself.

Lori and Curt Drew's personal information was widely circulated on the internet, where mass outrage was expressed (by me too) that an adult would do this to a teen. Megan's parents had no legal recourse against the Drews. Now the town where they lived has passed a resolution making cyberstalking a misdemeanor. The Drews have been widely condemned, and the day after the story broke someone called police and falsely reported a murder at the Drew residence. They've received death threats and a brick though their window. Now it seems the Drews have disappeared, leaving their home and their jobs. Their current whereabouts are largely unknown.

Teen Kills Herself Over Fake MySpace Boyfriend Created By Adults

Kelly Mills — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:02:00 GMT

If you've been following this story, you know it is devastatingly twisted. Megan Meier, a thirteen-year-old girl, met a sixteen-year-old boy named Josh on MySpace. He told her she was pretty and they had an online relationship. Then Josh abruptly told her he didn't want to be her friend anymore because he heard she was mean. He began posting bulletins: Megan is a slut. Megan is fat. Megan, who took medication for depression and ADHD, went upstairs to her room and hung herself. She died the next day.

Six weeks after Megan died, her parents learned that Josh was not a real person--he was created by the parents of a girl who lived down the street, a girl who had once been Megan's friend. The messages had been sent by the parents and their daughter, and they had invited another girl to join in the fun. Before the ambulance left Megan's house they called this girl and told her not to tell anyone about the MySpace profile. These neighbors were friends with Megan's family. They attended Megan's funeral.

The paper that broke the story did not print the names of these parents, and bloggers howled in protest. Some, most notably Jezebel, went on to print their names. There's some journalistic questions in there, about what information is necessary and important to report and what does more harm than good. All really good issues to consider, but mostly I could give a rat's ass about that because I read this as a parent, thinking of Megan's parents' pain.

I highly recommend reading the St. Charles Journal report on Megan's death, but be prepared for heartbreak. Megan's mother blames herself. She was angry at her daughter for not logging off when asked. She was home when Megan killed herself. She and Megan's father have basically no recourse against the family that did this. And I cannot find strong enough words for the disgust I feel towards adults--parents themselves--who tormented a teenage girl. On some level I understand all kinds of cruelty, but this one is almost beyond me. It's despicable and insanely sick and just gross. I fervently hope the rest of their lives are a daily hell.