Cases of cyber bullying

1.LOS ANGELES — Federal prosecutors have charged a Missouri woman over a MySpace hoax they say led to the suicide of a 13-year-old girl who believed she'd been jilted by a cyber Romeo.

Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Mo., was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on a charge of conspiracy and three counts of a computer crime and accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information used to inflict emotional distress.

INDICTMENT:

U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien said the Justice Department sought charges in Los Angeles because the MySpace social networking website and its computer servers are based in Beverly Hills and Southern California. MySpace is owned by a subsidiary of News Corp.

"It's clearly a tragic case," O'Brien said. "We think Ms. Drew's actions resulted in the death of a child."

If convicted, Drew could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each of the four counts, he said.

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

An attorney for Drew, Jim Briscoe, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The indictment centered around the hanging death in October 2006 of Megan Meier after flirtatious Internet chats with who she thought was a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans, who turned out not to exist. The indictment identified the girl only by the initials M.T.M.

The girl hanged herself at home after receiving messages from "Josh" including one stating that the world would be better off without her.

The indictment alleges that Drew helped create a MySpace account under a fictitious name and used it "to torment, harass, humiliate and embarrass the juvenile."

"Whether we characterize this tragic case as 'cyber-bullying,' cyber abuse or illegal computer access, it should serve as a reminder that our children use the Internet for social interaction and that technology has altered the way they conduct their daily activities," said Salvador Hernandez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office.

After the girl's death, the indictment says Drew and unnamed co-conspirators deleted the fictitious account from the MySpace system in an attempt to hide their tracks.

O'Brien said the case was the first in which the computer crime statute had been used in a social networking case. Previously it has been used in computer "hacking" cases, he said.

In Missouri, the girl's mother, Tina Meier, told the Associated Press, "I'm thrilled that this woman is going to face charges." Megan's father, Ron Meier, 38, said he began to cry "tears of joy" when he heard of the indictment.(adapted from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-15-myspace-suicide_N.htm)

2. In a case that sparked a massive outpouring of anger and grief in South Hadley, MA, charges have been brought against nine teenagers believed to have bullied Irish native Phoebe Prince, who committed suicide in January, just prior to her death.
Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel spoke about the charges that followed two months of investigation in a case with some parallels to the recent death of West Islip High School student Alexis Pilkington:

“It appears that Phoebe’s death on Jan. 14 followed a torturous day for her, in which she was subjected to verbal harassment and threatened physical abuse,” said Scheibel.

Prince’s death has drawn significant attention to the panic surrounding cyberbullying, a factor initially thought to have been related to Pilkington’s suicide. A Facebook group calling for the expulsion of “three girls” believed to have pushed Prince to take her life has over 23,000 members.
Although three of those charged have not been named, six of the teens no longer considered juveniles were identified in the Boston Herald, and charges against each individual were published:

Sean Mulveyhill, 17, of South Hadley who is charged with statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury resulting, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly.
Kayla Narey, 17, of South Hadley who is charged with violation of civil rights with bodily injury resulting, criminal harassment, disturbance of a school assembly.
Austin Renaud, 18, of Springfield who is charged with statutory rape.
Ashley Longe, 16, of South Hadley charged with violation of civil rights with bodily injury resulting as a youthful offender.
Flannery Mullins, 16, of South Hadley violation of civil rights with bodily injury resulting and stalking as a youthful offender.
Sharon Chanon Velazquez, 16, of South Hadley who is charged with violation of civil rights with bodily injury resulting and stalking as a youthful offender.

(adapted from http://www.inquisitr.com/68188/phoebe-prince-arrests/)