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MySpace hoax mom has her say
05/12/2007 11:22 - (SA)
St Louis - A woman linked to an online hoax played on a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide had no idea MySpace messages to the girl had turned cruel and did not write any of them herself, the woman's lawyer said.
Attorney Jim Briscoe appeared on Tuesday on NBC television's Today show, as did the parents of Megan Meier. Megan, a 13-year-old girl from the St Louis suburb of Dardenne Prairie, hanged herself last year minutes after receiving mean messages on MySpace.
Briscoe said his client, Lori Drew, "absolutely, 100%" had nothing to do with negative, nasty comments posted online about Megan Meier, and was not home when they were sent.
"She didn't find out about it until after Megan had taken her own life," he said.
Megan, who took medication for depression and attention deficit disorder, thought she had been communicating with a good-looking 16-year-old boy online. It turned out he was fictitious, and the profile was created on the social networking site to find out what Megan was saying online about Drew's daughter, according to a report from St Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas.
Banas concluded on Monday, as federal officials did weeks earlier, that there was no crime to charge anyone with in the case.
Changes to state law also have been proposed, and on Tuesday, Missouri Gov Matt Blunt announced the creation of an internet harassment task force that he wants to make recommendations within 30 days.
Tragic lesson
"Megan Meier's senseless death is a tragic lesson that social networking sites and technology have opened a new door for criminals and bullies to prey on their victims," Blunt said in a statement.
"As families and friends continue to remember Megan and celebrate her life, we must ensure that our laws have the protections and penalties needed to safeguard Missourians from internet harassment."
It is unclear who created the fictitious account, but a police report said that Drew and her then-18-year-old employee fabricated the profile. Banas said there are different accounts between Drew and the employee about the creation of the profile.
Briscoe said on Tuesday that Drew "did not create the MySpace account. She did not instruct anybody to create the MySpace account. She never made any communications through the MySpace account."
Since the case became public, Drew has had to close her advertising business "because people have been attacking her advertisers and they want nothing to do with her. They don't want the bad publicity", he told NBC. He said her friends and neighbours are afraid to talk to her.
"Her daughter has had to drop out of school because of the harassment," he said.
Briscoe said Drew did know about what was going on, though she did not think mean messages were being sent, and did not stop it. "She wished she did. If she could turn back the clock, that's the part she would do differently," he said.
The Meiers say the woman has changed her story since Megan's death. They believe she was home while messages were sent, and said they plan to proceed with a civil case.
Tina Meier told The Associated Press on Monday that the bottom line for her was that the other mother knew about the fake profile, knew Megan was on medication, and let the hoax continue. She said the fake profile was deleted right after the death. Then, she said, the woman did not tell the Meiers about what happened.
"Our daughter died, committed suicide, and she still didn't say a word," Meier said. "I still feel what she did is absolutely criminal."
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