Guilty verdict on lesser charges in MySpace case

A Los Angeles federal jury today convicted a Missouri mother of misdemeanor charges in the nationally watched MySpace cyber-bullying case involving the suicide of a 13-year-old girl. But the jury rejected more serious felony charges against Lori Drew.

Drew, 49, was accused of violating federal computer statutes and one count of conspiracy for creating the MySpace account in the name of a fictitious 16-year-old boy and using it to engage in an online relationship with 13-year-old Megan Meier.

Meier, of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., hanged herself Oct. 16, 2006, after the fictitious boy, “Josh Evans,” told her the world would be a better place without her, prosecutors alleged.

During the five-day trial in front of U.S. District Judge George H. Wu, prosecutors sought to portray Drew as a callous and reckless woman who gleefully took part in the hoax on Meier, despite knowing the girl had struggled with depression for years and had a vulnerable psyche. Among the government’s witnesses were a close friend of Drew, a business associate and her hairdresser, each of whom testified that Drew had admitted playing a role in the hoax.

Drew’s attorney, H. Dean Steward, had accused the government of overreaching by prosecuting his client for something that people routinely do on the Internet: Create bogus identities. He also sought to cast Megan as a deeply troubled teen who had already considered suicide and who was taking an antidepressant medication that carried a warning of suicidal tendencies as a potential side effect. Authorities in Missouri investigated the circumstances surrounding Megan’s death in the months after it occurred but concluded there was no statute under which Drew could be charged.

Thomas P. O’Brien, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, claimed jurisdiction over the case based on the fact that MySpace is based in Beverly Hills.

--Scott Glover

The Times' Scott Glover will have a full report on the verdict soon.

Photo: Lori Drew, right, and her daughter Sarah Drew arrive at federal court today. Nick Ut / Associated Press.

Comments

[rebel123]

She got off way too light in my opinion. As an adult and especially as a mother she acted in a very reckless manner and is responsible for pushing a fragile girl off the edge.

[DA]

I cannot believe that woman was so horrible that she would harass a troubled teen. She should be prosecuted for a crime against humanity!!!

[Private Citizen]

Very sad case, I can see children and teenagers acting like this, but a adult instigating and participating in this?

It's isn't difficult at all to determine her true intent and total lack of regard to the emotional damage she chose to inflict upon the now decease teenager.

Very pathetic.

[guy]

Why a grown mother with a child would do this to a young unstable teen is beyond me. I think that a statute should be created just for this type of offense. The young girl's death was a forseeable result of the hoax this mother played. The mother had a reckless disregard for human life and she should have been judged accordingly.

[matthew]

While I hope this women will burn in hell for being such an awful person, I don't believe she committed any crime. If it was illegal to violate a Terms of Service agreement on your computer, just about everyone in America would be in jail.

[Carl Baskin]

Clearly, Ms. Drew needs to spend less time on her computer and more time considering a better use for her life than engaging emotionally fragile teenagers in false online dialogues. What kind of role model is she for her 13 year old daughter?

[Jonathan]

Next step is the civil trial a la O.J. Even though plenty of this sort of thing goes on, you can trace the perpetrator and sue for damages, which obviously occurred here.

[atthebat]

Too bad. She ought to fry, and her awful daughter too.

[Jim in Pasadena]

Unfortunate that because of the lack of applicable laws the Feds were unable to get a felony conviction against this vicious adult, preying on troubled teen she knew to be vulnerable. Hopefully civil judgments and publicity will ruin this idiot's life.

[Glenn B.]

There was no call for her to do this to a kid. How bad does she get with adults? Does she think she's still in Jr. High?
Some people in this world are just plain mean!

[Marcy Spencer]

As tragic as this is for little Megan and her family, how sad that the rest of us are left with the morally and mentally deficient Lori Drew in our midst. What is wrong with a fifty-ish woman, a "mother", who would go to such depths of bad behavior and orchestrate this e-mail scam just to "see what the girl was saying about her daughter?" She and the daughter look like they sit around on their fat fannies all day, piddling on their computers while scarfing down Twinkies. Instead of extening a helping hand to a mentally fragile child, the lovely Mrs. Drew chose to push her over the cliff. What scum. The only satisfaction is that she'll have to live with herself...not to mention the reaction of her community's scorn.

[kc]

Just one comment springs to mind after looking at the pic of this charming mother-daughter psycho team: OINK!!!!! Mom, you got a lotta nerve picking on some other distraught teenager....stay off the computer, lady, before you off someone else!

[vegasgirl]

This malicious Drew woman should serve the maximum time in jail, or at least pay a hefty, hefty fine. She may not have physically played a role in this girl's suicide, but for an adult to play such a devious role deserves punishment. Shame on you, Lori Drew. May you suffer the rest of your lousy, miserable life.

[Rebecca]

Has the Drew family expressed any remorse? I can't find that they did. This is horrible and laws need to be put into place to stop this kind of cyberspace bullying. The fact that she is the mother is also scary. What kind of family is this? Maybe we'll see them on Jerry Springer.

[Electrongod]

What about the personal responsibility of the 13 year old? What about the responsibility of her parents? The young teenager had access to the internet that we all know is not a place for weak emotional people. She was a victim and the parents ignored or overlooked her condition. I do not like what the adult woman did but we as parents must have more awareness and responsibility over our children. We can't just throw them cell phones and computers and expect they will be safe.
These type of vicious acts can be resolved by educating ourselves and our children. We don't need more government influence in our lives. Let's take care of this ourselves.

[unclesmrgol]

Carl,

Her daughter is now 15. She didn't die and stop aging like Megan did..

[susan]

People who act so shocked by this are clearly unaware at how common bullying is on these MySpace, Facebook and other networking sites, and how common in school. There's rarely a public OR private school that doesn't have this problem, and usually, as long as the bullying happens off campus or not in a classroom, the school officials look the other way.

This IS a huge moral breakdown in society, where kids, especially girls, will post onto their MySpace accounts or even YouTube how they're making fun of another girl, or in the worst case, that attack on a girl. But that's been ruled legal. Some of the nasty comments posted about others online are far worse than what this "mother" said posing as the teen boy.

The only thing different here is that an older woman posed as a teen to "get even" for something involving her daughter, in which case, there are legal questions: Would she be guilty of a misdemeanour (and held morally liable for the death) if the victim had been over 18? That is, if it were between 2 adults? Would the outcome have been the same if the mother had in fact been an older sister, a 17-year old, who did the same for the younger 13-year-old?

As someone else raises, if merely lying about your online profile on MySpace etc. were a crime, mostly everyone would be guilty. Younger kids like to look older, to get into various chat rooms -- not always for bad reasons, e.g. to get onto game sites where the chat is innoucuous about the games; others lie "older" to avoid predators; many others like "younger" on legit dating sites because they genuinely feel and look 30 when they're over 40, etc. (I"m reminded of the scene in "Must Love Dogs" where the dad lies he's so much younger, that he attracts a date with his own daughter -- played for comedy.)

Are all these cases prosecutable? What are the limits, legally? Should legal recourse be MORE limited, while schools take a stronger approach to bullying, on and off the campus -- since a student being harassed by classmates online and off-campus carries that psychological damage into school?

This is all morally reprehensible and this mother and daughter look smug and horrible, but they're probably no different from too many other out there, except maybe for crossing these lines of age.

[adrien]

you people are dumb legaly she did nothing wrong she didn't give the girl the noose she just messed with the girl's head which legally isn't wrong im not saying that what she did is right but not wrong by LAW messing with the mind cant be measured because there are different strengths of the mind thus for you cant make it a crime it would be unfair