It is a truly sad day when a grown woman feels the need to harass a teenage girl. Even worse is when she does it hiding behind the anonymity offered by the Internet. Lori Drew, of St. Louis, Missouri, did exactly that. “Josh Evans” appeared on MySpace in 2006 and began chatting with thirteen-year-old Megan Meier, a former friend of Drew’s daughter. She believed he wanted to pursue a relationship with her. Then Drew, along with nineteen-year-old coconspirator Ashley Grills, told Megan that the “world would be better off without” her.
When Megan killed herself soon after receiving that message, I’m sure nobody was more surprised than Drew. But whether she intended to inflict physical harm on Megan or not, her emotional harassment of the girl was a factor in the girl’s death. Now, Drew is facing the consequences. It took almost two years for prosecutors to find something to charge Drew with. Due to the fairly recent appearance of “cyberbullying” cases, most states don’t have laws to deal specifically with online harassment. Due to a lack of evidence, the state of Missouri was unable to build a case against Drew.
Federal prosecutors, however, found a way. Citing a federal law that is normally used when prosecuting computer fraud cases, a grand jury in California—the state where the MySpace servers are located—indicted Drew with four charges. There is one charge of conspiracy and three counts of accessing a computer without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress. That’s a long-winded way of saying that Drew crossed the line when she created a false identity on MySpace in order to harass Meier, something that the social networking site specifically prohibits in its terms of service. MySpace and Megan Meier are both listed as victims of the fraud; each count could result in five years in jail.
While Drew denies creating the account or sending messages, Grills has been more than willing to shift blame to the older woman. Grills does admit that she was the one who set up the account at Drew’s behest, and that she was the one who sent the fatal last message. She seems to put the blame squarely on Drew’s shoulders, however, saying that it was Drew’s idea and that Drew did, in fact, send messages to Megan. The indictment mentions that Drew had coconspirators, but does not state their names. It is assumed that Grills is among them, and that perhaps she will be the next to face charges.
Meier’s parents are glad that justice is being done, or that federal prosecutors are at least trying to find a way. The assistant agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office, Salvador Hernandez, was heartbroken by the case. “The Internet is a world unto itself. People must know how far they can go before they must stop. They exploited a young girl’s weaknesses,” Hernandez said. “Whether the defendant could have foreseen the results, she’s responsible for her actions.”
Perhaps the most telling of all, after Megan’s suicide was made public, the information in the “Josh Evans” account disappeared. A sign of guilt, perhaps, from whomever created the account?
Do you think Drew should be held accountable for her “cyberbullying?” Was this a calculated harassment or a prank gone awry? Should Grills be prosecuted, too? Tell us what you think.
Photo credit: www.ctv.ca
I think that Mrs. Drew should definitely be held accountable for her crime. She harrassed another person, regardless of the circumstance or reasons, and her harrassment ended up in that poor girl’s death. As far as I’m concerened, Mrs. Drew should hang like Mussolini for what she did to poor Megan Meier.
[1] Posted by: gladiola323 | May 16th, 2008 at 6:02 pmIt’s sad and so sick to think that a grown woman actually did this to a teenager, of all people. I’m baffled as to why she even did it to begin with. If Megan did something wrong, then Drew should have just told her parents or lectured her, NOT create a fake MySpace account to harass her to the point of suicide. I hope Drew is happy now for being so immature. And this shows a lot of people that they have to be careful about other people not only in real life, but online as well.
[2] Posted by: booknooker89 | May 17th, 2008 at 12:12 pmI think that this woman is one of the most ignorant people i have ever heard of in my life. How dare she do such low things? It is one thing to be concerned about your daughter, it is quite another to teach her to be relationally aggressive toward others. Relational aggression is one of the most vile ways to hurt a person. It is underhanded and cowardly what she did. As for her being charged, I am a law major, so I have to say that she shouldn\’t get charged with something as lofty as murder. What she is being charged for is completely appropriate and I hope, for my own selfish reasons, that she receives maximum sentencing. I think that Grills should be prosecuted, but it might be a better legal tactic to plead her down and make her a leading witness.
[3] Posted by: dunkitdinkit_89 | May 18th, 2008 at 2:18 amI agree strongly with those who made posted comments already. I have been aware of this case from November of 2007. As a matter of fact 3 of my friends and I along with our government teacher attended The 68th Annual AIC Model Congress in Springfield, MA. This case inspired our group to create a mock bill to hopefully be passed by this Model Congress. Unfortunatley we couldn’t have the majority of other students agree with us. If anyone desires to see our mock bill try to contact me and I’ll see what I can do. We did however impress the judges and they declared our bill as the best bill of 2008! Check out the link and scroll down to best bill. http://www.aic.edu/pages/1057.html However I don’t want to gloat about our time. This issue is very important and I strongly agree that there should be a national law that prevents these catastrophes to our society. It is downright wrong!
[4] Posted by: cleahy | May 18th, 2008 at 9:56 pmHow does one respond to such an immoral act? To think that parents, adults (NAZI) during the Holocaust would pull children away from their parents and send them to a gas chamber, firing squad or group bombing…and yet look how far we\’ve come?! A world where there are no limits or restrictions on what \
[5] Posted by: playboy0627 | May 19th, 2008 at 11:52 amHow does one respond to such an immoral act? To think that parents, adults (NAZI) during the Holocaust would pull children away from their parents and send them to a gas chamber, firing squad or group bombing…and yet look how far we’ve come?! A world where there are no limits or restrictions on what “you” can do. I feel that Mrs. Drew will never suffer the wrath that she deserves and will, like many other things in this time of liquid information, be forgotten. Then again, I feel that besides her being jailed, being forgotten is a great punishment too. To be remembered, whether lovingly or hatefully, still requires “you” to commit that person to memory. I feel that we should forget Mrs. Drew and instead preserve Megan’s name and memory for eternity. We should say her name, remember her face and like other tragedies, NEVER FORGET! I hope that Mrs. Drew lives the rest of her life cursed and disease ridden. I hope that Megan visits her in every dream and vision. I know my hopes might seem petty, but they are still my hopes…
[6] Posted by: playboy0627 | May 19th, 2008 at 11:53 amThis woman should be put on death row thats practically murder
[7] Posted by: dumbbringmegumx2 | May 21st, 2008 at 8:52 amI think its funny lulz
[8] Posted by: DavidDavid12 | May 22nd, 2008 at 3:38 pmI think that this woman is very stupid and should get a life a mean who actually takes the time to harass a 13 year old girl? She should go to jail for her stupidity but also the littler girls parents need to better their parenting because how insecure can a person be to actually commit suicide simply because someone who they met online tells them the world would be better without them.
[9] Posted by: Nano_bustillo | May 22nd, 2008 at 11:42 pmThis inhumain person reminds me of my neighbor of 17 years.My neighbor has been jealous of my 3 daughters since they were 2,3,and 4 years old.She has one daughter and a son,who she gave away,and has caused me nothing but trouble for 17 years,ie: calling the animal control on my beautiful dogs,whom by the way live in an acre of fenced land,with freedom to run and play,she calls the police at any given moment to report false acusations also,and as for Megan,I am so sorry she took her life,teens,especially are under so much peer pressure anyway,but for a GROWN woman(if you can call her a Woman,I prefer to call her a WITCH),to portray herself as a male boyfriend,well this individual has severe mental problems herself,not to mention self centerness,jealously,etc.Also she has repulsed the entire world for her act of vengence,just think of what she puts her own daughter through,I think her daughter and any other children she has, needs to be put into protective custody,before something terrible happens to them also.I would think her daughter is so embarrassed that she would want to live in a more caring and non judgemental home.Send the WITCH to life behind bars!Take my neighbor with her they have the same credentials equaling 0000000.Rest in peace Megan the world loves you!
[10] Posted by: moonchildangel | May 24th, 2008 at 11:29 amIn response to gladiola323 I do not believe she should hang. I understand the situation but she should not hag that is almost as irrational as her harassing that little girl.
[11] Posted by: Jimmie_P3 | May 26th, 2008 at 9:00 pmi strongly believe that she should get the most time possible. that was a cruel act. i dnt understand how an adult can lower themseleves to the point of bullying a teenager iver myspace. clearly she wanted tohurt the gurl.
[12] Posted by: boomswifey | May 27th, 2008 at 10:05 amAbout Ms. Drew’s actions, I agree with the comments above, but there are already 12 comments about that here, so I decided to talk about something else. What did get me thinking, though, was the comment about how insecure Megan would have to be to actually commit suicide over a few emails. This leads us to question our own society - although this is the first case I’ve heard of this from cyberbullying, there have definitely been more than a few past cases where a victim of bullying was pushed to being so depressed that they were willing to commit suicide to end it. Suicide is currently one of the leading causes of death for all ages. I don’t know what we can do, but SOMETHING needs to be done.
[13] Posted by: SnowAngel1994 | May 29th, 2008 at 10:30 pmWell if that girl commited suicide cause of one myspace comment then im sorry to say there must’ve been more to it. Like seriously probably that girl was having ssues at home or at school. Im not defending that old lady but come one…. taht girl killed herself cuz of a myspace comment. There is something these people aint telling us.
[14] Posted by: noirkel | May 30th, 2008 at 8:47 pmid have to agree with noirkel. there are thousands, if not, millions of teens in this world who have to undergo worse situations than what megan has experienced and they wouldnt even think of commiting suicide. of course, i agree with everyone else, what that so-called
[15] Posted by: Squirreln05 | June 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 pm*continued from last comment*
[16] Posted by: Squirreln05 | June 2nd, 2008 at 11:26 pm“grown woman” did was absolutely cruel. but, as a teen, i think megan should have been a little bit stronger than that and report something like this to the police rather than commiting suicide. think about how her family and friends feel about this. they must be blaming themselves because a teenage girl commiting suicide over something like this is a definite sign that there was something going on with her personal life.
yeah she should, just for having the personality of an immature high school girl when in reality she was probably just jealous she’s not young anymore
[17] Posted by: MishaWeinstein | June 4th, 2008 at 12:15 amDrew should be held accountable for her part in Megan’s death. And Drew can be held accountable in a civil court for her actions. It won’t be hard for a lawyer to prove her liability in a civil case of this type. And believe me a harsh judgment in civil court can cause Drew some considerable pain.
This won’t be popular for me to state, but I think that the government should be cautious in their attempts to create legislation to regulate “cyberbullying.”
It is never nice to be a troll at a message board, to flame email addresses, or harass others. But what exactly would new legislation determine “cyberbullying” to be? There are always many unexpected results from newly set precedents in law. Will I be charged with “cyberbullying” if I write a critical email to a co-worker about a project? Will I be charged for willing deception on myspace if my profile reads that I am “athletic” when I’m much closer to “more to love”? How will this be regulated? Will my emails and messages immediately be released for investigation when someone alleges “cyberbullying”? Will I be held accountable for someone’s suicide, if it follows a critical message?
Legislation of this type certainly has the potential to infringe an individual’s privacy rights, or more importantly, it can lead to incarceration. And it will certainly affect my ability to pretend I’m shaped more like an hourglass (rather than like a paint can). I’m not trying to downplay the terrible loss of life with inappropriate levity, but I just want to illustrate how well-meaning legislation can occasionally cause ludicrous problems for regular people.
I have a lot of personal experience with individuals suffering mental illness, especially depression with suicidal ideations. And Megan’s issues with mental illness have been well-established in many news articles. The myspace messages from “Josh” certainly played a role in Megan’s death–and it may have been a catalyst. But I have no doubt that Megan’s disappointment over the myspace messages was just part of a larger picture of hopelessness and a chemical imbalance (present in clinical depression). It is very unusual for a series of emails to push a healthy individual to suicide.
There is no doubt that Lori Drew’s actions were absolutely reprehensible. We expect adults to act with tempered maturity, and wisdom. But did Drew honestly mean to push Megan to suicide? Is it right to send her away for up to ten years for a very ill-spirited prank? A jury will no doubt decide–but I will be the voice of moderation by warning that a knee-jerk legislation could lead to murky laws that are hard to enforce, and easy to abuse.
[18] Posted by: Insert_noun | June 9th, 2008 at 2:44 pmI think, that perhaps it was all horrible circumstance. First of all it is terrible that a woman of her age lacks the reasoning to rise above such childish acts. However, where were the parents in this? Certainly they didn’t see the “warning signs” common of depressed or sucidial teenagers, Of course suicide and depression usually go hand in hand it makes me wonder if there was more under the surface that had been bubbling with this girl and this thing just “pushed her over the edge” There probably was a lot of factors in this over all case and yes, The woman and her accomplice should be punished because they both should have the morals and decency to know better than that.
[19] Posted by: hazardousglow | June 9th, 2008 at 10:30 pmThe woman who had sent Megan such MySpace messages has shown definite childish decisions. First of all, a grown woman spending time on the internet just to bother a 13-year old girl. That is sad and depressing, and meaningless. She probably is in denial at the moment, because obviously if she herself will get in trouble with the law, she will lie. I hope she feels guilty, I really hope she learns from her obviously idiotic decisions. Second, most teenagers at this age are having problems with image and self confidence. And such things said to her may lower this to much levels that push her into suicidal thoughts. At such a young age I doubt one would know how to deal with problems such as these.
[20] Posted by: Milanogirl14 | June 25th, 2008 at 10:08 pm