Jury convicts mom of lesser charges in online hoax

[sasquatch]

Source: Associated press

LOS ANGELES – A Missouri mother on trial in a landmark cyberbullying case was convicted Wednesday of only three minor offenses for her role in a mean-spirited Internet hoax that apparently drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide.

The federal jury could not reach a verdict on the main charge against 49-year-old Lori Drew — conspiracy — and rejected three other felony counts of accessing computers without authorization to inflict emotional harm.

Instead, the panel found Drew guilty of three misdemeanor offenses of accessing computers without authorization. Each count is punishable by up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Drew could have gotten 20 years if convicted of the four original charges.

U.S. District Judge George Wu declared a mistrial on the conspiracy count. There was no immediate word on whether prosecutors would retry her.

"I don't have any satisfaction in the jury's decision," said Drew's lawyer, Dean Steward. "I don't think these charges should have ever been brought."

Tina Meier, the mother of the dead girl, said Drew deserves the maximum of three years behind bars.

"For me it's never been about vengeance," she said. "This is about justice."

Prosecutors said Drew and two others created a fictitious 16-year-old boy on MySpace and sent flirtatious messages from him to teenage neighbor Megan Meier. The "boy" then dumped Megan in 2006, saying, "The world would be a better place without you." Megan promptly hanged herself with a belt in her bedroom closet.

Prosecutors said Drew wanted to humiliate Megan for saying mean things about Drew's teenage daughter. They said Drew knew Megan suffered from depression and was emotionally fragile.

"Lori Drew decided to humiliate a child," U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Brien, chief federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, told the jury during closing arguments. "The only way she could harm this pretty little girl was with a computer. She chose to use a computer to hurt a little girl, and for four weeks she enjoyed it."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081126/ap_on_re_us/internet_suicide;_ylt=Asdv0v31VrX5fh6ovczblY5vzwcF

---

I think this whole trial is horse shit, because know any little jackass prosecutor can go after anyone who kills themselves because you made them feel bad. Example: if your a high school teacher and you fail a kid for poor performance and s/he kills themselves, you're now criminally liable. I'm glad the jury dismissed the felonies, but I'm disappointed they convicted her on the misdemeanors.

[ret5hd]

1. Let me know when the 1st HS teacher gets prosecuted using this...

feel free to pm me here. I'll be waiting.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. you can't use the reasonable man standard.

If the victim is emotionally fragile, the jury must take that as it is. There is no standard of what a reasonable victim should be able to withstand as far as bullying.

[MichiganVote]

3. That is such a sad thing to do to a kid. Shame on this woman.

[hlthe2b]

4. I suspect the OP has not followed this story...

It is a lot more complicated, and a lot more pre-meditated and pathological than this simple summary portrays. This woman was truly a monster. Now, the laws that exist are poorly suited to address this kind of thing, but what this woman did certainly was contributory to the suicide death of this child.

[MadMaddie]

18. I agree

This grown women tormented and I would say mentally tortured this child and that should be a crime in itself.

This woman feels no remorse for what she has done and that tells us a lot about her.

[jrockford]

20. I hope that's the reason, but I must confess I won't be shocked if it isn't.

That thread on denying prisoners properly heated food because they should be thankful for bread and water, rather put me off the decency of many here.

[pam4water]

26. I agree too.

[cstanleytech]

29. Perhaps however they are still entitled to their opinion even if that

is the case I'm sure you will agree.
As for this women herself I hope she is sued in civil court as well as anyone else who was involved with her scheme, it might not have been criminal but it was neglectful and it did cause in the end the family of the girl severe emotional distress.

[jrockford]

31. Can be entitled to their opinion, doesn't mean their opinion is actually good or based on truth or

sense or anything.

Hannity is entitled to his opinion. So what?

[hlthe2b]

45. Who was suggesting depriving the OP of their opinion...

I'm afraid I don't understand why you would post that? :shrug:

[davidinalameda]

30. you're exactly right

the woman needs to be punished for destroying the life of that girl

this is not punishment enough

[underpants]

5. I don't buy the HS teacher analogy-this woman intentionally tried to harm the girl

systematic harassment


A teacher may determine (unprofessionally) to "get back" at a student but they don't go out of their way to create a fictitious person and directly target that individual seemingly out of the blue.

[jeff30997]

6. What a cruel thing to do.

That woman is a cold hearted sociopath.

[riley3]

7. This woman is a child predator, and in now way, shape, or form should be

compared to a teacher.

[Zhade]

8. I'm not surprised YOU see a problem with this.

NT!

[qanda]

9. Huh? Did I miss something?

When has a teacher ever created a fictious name to knowingly and maliciously harm a child?

[Sherman A1]

10. This wasn't too far from where I live. I think the woman did a terrible deed,

but I have to ask, just where were the kids parents? Should they have not been monitoring her computer usage? I just don't see how this woman alone is guilty of the kids death and I do believe this is a slippery slope.

[Auggie]

11. Where was the mother of the dead girl during all this?

She allowed her emotionally fragile 13 year-old unsupervised use of a computer?

I'm not defending Drew. But maybe this kid could have been saved by some counseling and/or better parenting...

[Chulanowa]

13. Kids are sneaky little suckers

And really, "better parenting"? I imagine most parents don't expect their little girl to hang herself after being led to a suicidal depression by their adult next-door neighbor, whether or not she's emotionally fragile.

Hindsight can give us lots of "should have..." solutions. But hte plain fact is, here we have a crazy woman deliberatly harassing a little girl with the very real hope of causing her serious emotional harm.

Instead of blaming the parents who lost their little girl as you are doing, perhaps you ought to blame the sociopath that engineered it.

[jrockford]

15. Right, in an instance like this it is easy to say

where are the parents or guardians?, etc.

Yeah, in that respect it often sucks. Either a brief mistake was costly (letting the child walk home from grandmas to your home, two homes way, and the neighbour across the road abducts him in the process..) OR some form of neglect...bad things happen.

But, in perspective, it may be a very stupid thing to leave your doors unlocked. But there is no statute telling you to keep them locked. And yet, you still have the right not to have your domicile plundered.

So, this really, especially in the courts (unless there is something collaborative) - really needs to be kept out, because it was not the issue at hand. Presenting an "easier" opportunity than not isn't an excuse and does not usually make you culpable. At least, not in situations like this. We can all build straw man arguments and other rubbish, but ultimately it is those with intent to do wrong to be tried in cases as these.

[Chulanowa]

21. Exactly, it's blaming the victim

No one should be expected to spend their expecting to be exploited. The fault lies solidly with the person who did wrong, not with whoever they did wrong against.

Besides, in thise case, strong parental supervision may have caused problems as well - "My parents don't trust me"

[jrockford]

17. "WHERE WAS THE MOTHER?" - trial docs say she ordered her daughter to get off myspace.

To others, I'm sure, more could of been done (take away the computer, never let her be alone) - but it is unlikely that the mum was aware of the actual degree of her daughter's mental state. I post this, because some people interpret what is left out of a crappy MSM article as a non-action (wasn't reported because she wasn't involved.) Though, I've never experienced that to be the case. When a bit of information is damning, such as so and so ddin't feed her kid for a week, they don't just not put it in (usually). Just because you didn't read about the mum's assistance to help doesn't conclude that she didn't assist to help her daughter.

[CBHagman]

28. The Monday morning quarterbacking was done months back.

The news articles I've read on this give the background -- that the girl's parents had her in counseling, that she was being treated for depression, etc. And invariably online comment sections at the news outlets contain comments like yours, the suggestions that if the parents had done a better job, the poor girl would be alive.

Here's The Washington Post take on the story.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010903367_pf.html

Megan struggled with attention-deficit disorder and bouts of anxiety as well; she had been in counseling since third grade.

On edit: There are plenty of parents with good intentions and various resources who try to do the best they can by their unhappy children, and sometimes they can't save them. I wouldn't judge those parents; they're already suffering enough.

On the other hand, there are plenty of unhappy kids who are more or less forced to muddle through on their own, without the care they need. Some make it and some don't. Again, I wouldn't judge.

[jrockford]

34. Exactly.

It is as if since they don't recently read, because the MSM doesn't include it in their coverage, that the mum or parents did everything they absolutely could (or put in a reasonable effort, considering the information available at the time) - it must not of happened.

Even if they say they aren't blaming the victims...they are.

That's equivalent to the people that KO makes fun of when they say "I'm not comparing so and so to Hitler, but" etc. You may think you aren't, but you are.

:nopity:
I'd feel sorry for your insensative ignorance, but I'm too busy feeling bad for the one who died and their family.

[TorchTheWitch]

47. The mother was also duped by the fictious character

She did monitor her daughter on the internet and was just as duped as her daughter by the character of the fictitious boy Drew devised. She looked at his photo, read his messages and determined he was a nice boy just as her daughter did, which was Drew's PLAN. The mother monitored her daughters use of the internet and relationship with the fictitious boy as closely as I've ever heard any parent do.

In any case, it is far too easy for any kid to access the internet outside of their parents' view or knowledge. These days the internet is available all over the place. I think it's pretty ridiculous to believe a parent has the abilitity to stop their child from getting on the internet without their knowledge at times... just as ridiculous to believe a parent is able to stop their child from being capable of sneaking a forbidden cigarette at times. It's just way too easy for kids to do.

[Auggie]

50. Out of curiosity I checked with a licensed family counselor

who said the same thing -- it was out of the realm of possibility for the mother to monitor her daughter's internet use 24/7. So I stand corrected.

[trollybob]

12. Even if you think that what this woman did was reprehensible

I agree that it's another example of over-reaching by prosecutors and misuse of the criminal justice system. Suppose this: If this girl hadn't killed herself, would the woman have still been prosecuted? I kind of think that everyone would have just blown it off as nothing more than foolishness.

[jrockford]

16. A charge COULD of still been filed. Whether it would or not, I can't say

but I don't think it would of been "blown off" and "laughed away". They have the right to pursue cases on behalf of the people, which includes discretion. A death ups the ante quite a bit. But I am willing to wager that had these three sociopaths caused incredible psychological harm (even if it was being completely humiliated at the school) - there'd be a legit suit on the way.

[yardwork]

43. But the child did die.

To continue your analogy, if somebody attempts murder and fails, the charge are much less than if they succeed.

[jrockford]

14. That's not the holding now or what it likely would of been if the other charges remained.

Your response is a typical knee-jerk reaction, hopefully it is only based on the foundation that you are woefully unaware of how the American criminal legal system works.

The whole trial was indeed not "horse shit", it seemed quite legitimate. Essentially, they were committing a form of trespass by violating the ToS. That's more than just a breach of contract, as it is actually a trespass.

Every slippery slope article I read about this was pure nonsense and not at all convincing. It was a similar, of course greatly watered down, reaction to Miranda and the sky is falling if this goes through.

Sky never fell then, it wouldn't now, but some level of justice would of been delivered to Drew.

Your analogy is really terrible and does not apply here. Maybe if you changed it around a bit.
Rather than a HS teacher giving a bad grade which leads to suicide and then charges.
How about a teacher who is friends with a fellow student. This fellow student knows you are being treated medicinally and cognitively for depression. They devise a way to create a FAKE class or teacher or Guidance Counselor or some goofy system. It's fake. And three of them toy around, with the intent and purpose of making you hurt. Then in the course of this sociopathic behaviour...you are violating a lot of ToS with the equipment you are using. Then you somehow write something convincing enough that "the world would be better without you, you aren't going to get into any college, hope you enjoy working at McDonalds forever' or something equally rotten that may apply as incredibly traumatic and abusive...THEN you go and hang yourself shortly and promptly after. Then yeah, I think you should be charged with your illicit use of the computers and software.

In a sense, you are breaking contractual rules and laws - court is fair play.
But you see how that analogy is just far less sympathetic but closer to the Drew case than the nicely decorated one you supplied?

Because of the nature and difficulty on pursuing justice in these matters, the prosecutors had to focus on the misuse of computers and software, etc. That was fairly fundamental in the trial and nothing unusual there.

[caseymoz]

19. Far from horse-shit.

If she were charged with homicide of some sort, then it might be horse-shit.

When a death occurs because of not just negligence, but clear malice, then you've got to at least bring it to trial. Violation of Terms of Service are pretty much a given.

[ShortnFiery]

22. I'm with the dead girl's mom = Drew should serve all three years - maximum sentence.

What kind of adult MONSTER would tweak with the emotions of a teenager?!? :grr:

[MorganaSeawalker]

24. I agree she's getting off light.

I had hoped for a much stiffer sentence, three years is nothing compared to a lifetime of loss. And those teachers who humiliate and debase students should be charged if their damage can be proven. You know, rather like the good priest molesting your son. The emotional damaged inflicted by teachers/priests/pastors/police lasts a life. People need to be held responsible for their actions and words. There is no excuse for cruelty.

[jrockford]

35. I was really hoping for the 10-20.

The mistrial, I hope, gets retried. This 3 year thing is just not good enough.

Either way, this should definitely result in a civil action.

The smugness of Drew incenses me, I can't explain at all why.

[drmeow]

23. I'm not going to comment on the legal

side of this. I consider what she did to that child to be emotional abuse.

Thinking about this situation I'm reminded of the movie (I didn't read the book) Dangerous Liaisons - the punishment was to ostracize her (a fitting punishment for the character). That's what I want to do to people like this. Maybe she didn't do something which was technically illegal - I can't say. But from what I remember of the history of this case, in my mind the woman deserves to be shunned and rejected by all of society. I'd like to send a message that says, "What you did is not acceptable in our community and we reject it and the consciencelessness of someone who could do something like that. Your lack of a conscience and your lack of maturity means you are a danger to our community and therefore you are to be shunned." And then don't include her in ANYTHING. Treat her like she is invisible. Make her a non-person. Make her wear a scarlet B for bully :evilfrown: :evilgrin:.

Unfortunately, the danger in that type of punishment is that it historically has been (and in smaller communities still is) used to punish and control people who violate actions or beliefs which are not worthy of that type of punishment - things that don't harm anyone but go against the social norms (consensual sexual behaviors especially). That and it only really works in smaller communities. But part of me relishes the thought of making this woman a complete pariah.

[jrockford]

36. Well, I will comment on the legal aspect of the case and

What Drew was said to did, though there isn't much dispute over the relevant facts of the case, is indeed illegal.

I don't believe there is a better way the prosecutors could of approached this case criminally. I've only read the transcripts, so I can't comment completely on the competency of the prosecutors - however, from what I've read, they are doing a good job at trying to bring justice to a grievous wrong.

[pam4water]

25. I'm glade they convicted her of something. She went out of her way to

hurt a girl she knew was already in a fragile mental state. The comparison to a teach is a tired old saw. There is no comparison. There is a big difference between grading and mentally torture a minor. My mother and 5 assorted aunts and uncles are teachers. And all of them are sick of the teacher cliche.

[Piewhacket]

27. Yes, any jackass prosecutor can prosecute you...

if you taunt someone to suicide knowing they are fragile and
suicidal. That's why civilized folks who want to stay out
of jail don't do that stuff.

These were obviously federal charges. State charges could still come.
Then, of course, the inevitable civil suit.

We might wonder if she still thinks, in hindsight and after legal advice,
it was worth doing.

[jrockford]

32. As she says with a grin, smirk, or as matter of fact like:

It's not like she pulled the trigger.

:nopity:

She has no remorse at all. What she did was clearly wrong. She was informed it was wrong. She was even informed it may be illegal. She didn't care. Her plans involved humiliating her and subjecting her to emotional distress.

The civil suits should come swiftly and the standard there is much less than that of criminal.

[Raschel]

33. An adult messing with the mind of a child. She's a sick freak, that's for sure.

[Posteritatis]

52. Didn't she have a blog for awhile more or less boasting about this? (nt)

[Politicalboi]

37. There's something about a woman

Who can do this to a 13 year old girl for weeks. Can anyone here even imagine chatting with a 13 year old for days? This woman is a predator and a bully. I was hoping for the 20 years. What if some pervert got some 13 year old girl to masterbate online? Would he go to jail for sexual abuse? I wonder if the jury got to read the IM's and e-mails. If there's sexual language could they nail her for that?

[EFerrari]

38. Giving a failing grade and deliberately humiliating a kid for weeks are not the same.

This woman deserves everything that happens to her.

[atimetocome]

39. the woman should serve some time as a message to all bullies.

[acmavm]

40. Anyone who thinks this woman doesn't deserve some serious punishment

has quite a few screws loose themselves. Not to mention a serious lack of character and decency. For already fragile girl at the age where kids are changing emotionally and physically being victimized by a vindictive, mentally unstable adult is not excusable in any way, shape, or form. To actually take the time and communicate with her as a young boy, make the poor girl believe there was some kind of emotional connection, and them 'dump' them by telling them the world would be a better place in it without her, this was PURE evil with the intent to cause as much harm to that child as possible.

Can't you just hear the sick cackles of glee as this horrible horrible disgustingly vicious specimen of petty evil laughs her ass off at every posting of that poor kid. And remember, she was sitting there with another kid who was 'helping' her with the scheme. Boy, what a good role model. What about the damage she did to that obviously not-too-bright little bitch in training who was right there in the scheme with her? Shouldn't HER parents be taking some action against Ms. Drew as well?

No, this woman got exactly what she wanted in the end. She pushed a defenseless, unstable, unsuspecting kid over the edge and caused her death. Too bad old Lori's gonna be walking around free for a number of years yet. Even if she does do some prison time, she'll be out again, walking around again, living her life with her family again.

That poor dead child is gone. And she went out thinking that no one cared, that she was a reject, that she wasn't wanted.

Again, there is something very seriously wrong with anyone who doesn't think this woman needs punishment.

P.S. Until Lori Drew I doubt that very few people suspected their kids would get tangled up with a sociopathic child abuser neighbor who was trying to cause serious emotional and physical harm to their kids. It's hard to believe there are really disgusting specimens out there who will pretend to be your friendly neighbor to your face, but when they're home behind closed doors that same bitch is trying to harm your child because they 'said something' about their kid.

[shellgame26]

41. just what the hell

Is a 49 year old woman doing taunting a 13 year old online? She is a sick sociopath and whatever punishment she escaped from the law, she should sure get from her community in the form of public ostracisation. Shame!

[Hugin]

42. Now it's only called a 'hoax'?

Shame on whoever is watering down this story.

[LostinVA]

44. I'm really surprised the conspiracy charge was mistrialed

Drew won't serve one day is prison, I bet. She's sickening. I remember her boo-hooing about how HER life was ruined, because her family had to move, etc. You helped torment a KID whom you KNEW, and whom you KNEW was mentally fragile.

Sickening.

[clspector]

46. A couple of weeks ago

there was a thread about this case here on DU. Several of the posters on that case had their britches in a knot over this case because they felt this would interfere with free speech on the Internet. I said to them then what most of you on this thread are saying now. That this woman was a sociopathic predator who is as bad and dangerous as any pedophile.

What she did is reprehensible and it is unimaginable to me how a decent, grown person could behave in this fashion. And her utter lack of remorse makes her crimes all the greater.

[LisaL]

48. Of course you personally would never break TOS, right?

I wonder how many people here could be convicted of the same thing (if a prosecutor so desires), considering the woman was charged with violating my space' TOS.

[clspector]

51. Well, not intentionally, no.

But then again, I'm not pretending to be a teenage boy in order to harass a child twenty-five years my junior. Why the hell aren't *you* pissed at this predator? Seriously, she's the one who has created a situation where your anonymity might be compromised.

She's the one who went about harassing an emotional unstable child. (Whose parents had been trying to help for depression for years. So don't try to lay the blame on them.) She *knew* this girl was troubled, and yet she went about systematically wooing, then destroying, this girl. If you think she deserves to be protected from her perfidy, then I'm at a loss.

[davidthegnome]

49. It's really sick

There's no real moral defense for what she did. Frankly, all three of those involved in tormenting this kid need to be either imprisoned or institutionalized. If it had been my daughter....

Drew is a sick, revolting monster that needs to be locked in a cage or, frankly, put down.