Jan 8, 2008 (The Weekly Vice) - The tragic case of Megan Meier, a Dardenne Prairie teenager who hung herself after she she was bullied through a MySpace account, has taken on new life.
A Federal grand jury in Los Angeles has commenced issuing subpoenas in the case of the 13 year old teen who was stalked, harassed and bullied for weeks via the teenager's MySpace account.
This case ignited a brush fire of outrage against Lori Drew, the adult who admitted to developing the fake MySpace account which was used by herself, her daughter and her employee to taunt the depressed teen.
The tragedy began when 13 year old Megan Meier began receiving the affectionate emails from what she thought was a 16 year old boy who developed an interest in her. The relationship had progressed for week, often times becoming sexual for a 13 year old according the police report Lori Drew herself filed shortly after Megan's suicide.
The relationship abruptly ended when the boy turned verbally abusive towards her. The harassment ended in a final message from the boy which suggested that the 'world would be better off without her. The emotionally devastated Megan responded by hanging herself with a belt in her bedroom closet.
Weeks later, information and a police report surfaced which indicated that the 16 year old boy who had befriended and then later devastated the teen wasn't a teenage boy at all. It was the mother of a friend Megan had recently parted ways with.
According to a police report which The Weekly Vice published back in November, Lori Drew stipulated to her involvement in the development of the MySpace account. It was later revealed that Lori Drew's daughter and an employee of Mrs. Drew's company were also in on the harassment.
Local officials dismissed the case citing that the case did not rise to the level of a broken law, which outraged an entire nation who expressed their anger and grief at countless websites and blogs across the Internet. Later, officials in the case banned any further public inquiries into the details of the case, another move that many believe raised suspicions of a potential cover-up by officials in the case.
Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, however, are exploring the possibility of charging Drew with defrauding MySpace by creating the false account that she, her daughter and another person used to communicate with Megan according to the Los Angeles Times.
The grand jury issued several subpoenas last week, including one to MySpace and others to "witnesses in the case." according to the LA times source.
The prosecutors believe they have jurisdiction because MySpace -- the would-be victim -- is based in Beverly Hills, the sources said.
While the subpoenas breath new life into a case many view as an instance of injustice served by authorities in the case, experts are stressing caution, when it comes to what might inevitably be achieved by this unprecedented action.
Charges under this category of law would not yield the kind of justice many would like to see happen in the Megan Meier case. It's also important to note that this is relatively new territory for any prosecutor to go.
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6 comments:
This is new territory and will be extremely interesting to watch. (some childish part of me wants to phone Jack Banas's office and say "na, na, na-na, na") I hope all the parties involved are called to testify. Thanks for continueing to keep us updated!
tessieroo
St Charles, MO
As a cautionary note, any conviction acheived through this method would fall quite short of what a lot of people would like to see happen in this case.
Basically, the prosecutors are still considering this case, and while subpoenas have been issued according to sources, there have not yet been confirmations that the subpoenas have been officially served.
If there is a conviction, it will probably resuslt in some small monitory punishment like a fine.
Don't expect this case to lead to jail time. Also, remember, this is uncharted territory.
Prosecutors do have a model to follow. The music industry has successfully sued music file downloaders
Very true, find myself wondering what/who/how/why they could "construct" any type of law to apply - although Missouri is moving forward! I'm not even thinking conviction is possible but will be watching.
http://www.kjct8.com/Global/story.asp?S=7596719
(keeping fingers crossed) Realize it wouldn't help the Meier case but my daughter is 10 and entering that awkward/uncomfortable in her own skin stage so I'm interested in this. Again, thanks for updates.
tessieroo
St Charles, MO
What chips my fan blades the MOST is that Lori Drew through her attorney is lying to the public about her involvement, when there is a very thorough documentation of Lori's own statements which completely contridicts her denials now.
The media for the most part have bought the story and many of them don't even bring up the police report...
The Today show identified Ashley Grillz as the creator of the MySpace account...
So Lori has succeeded in dumping the entire blame on someone besides her and her daughter.
She stalked a kid to death and then throws someone else under the bus to protect herself.
Lori Drew needs to be called out on the carpet for her multiple stories....
Either she lied THEN, or she is a liar now... There is absolutely no way she can say both statements are true... They completely contridict each other.
Wire fraud is a crime, and like all crimes it can result in prison time. There are a LOT of people in prison for wire fraud right now. However, they usually defrauded people in more conventional ways, like accepting money for a scam of some type.
It's therefore hard to say how someone might be sentenced in a case of this type, but most assuredly it will depend upon the evidence since Lori Drew has no prior record.
Also, remember that the judge could place her on federal probation, with specific criteria such as that she cannot use computers.
If she is sent to prison, she will undoubtedly be sent to a federal prison camp, and not the type of facility one pictures as a prison. After all, she isn't a high-risk offender. She will share prison space with tax evaders, white collar offenders, and criminals of that ilk.
I have no faith that Lori will get what she deserves in this case. Perhaps it's mean, but I'm happy that she's at least sweating it out and paying her attorney mega-bucks to represent her. I bet their house will have a lien for legal fee payment. That, my friend is the only justice likely to be found where Lori's concerned.
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