Woman Accused of Using MySpace to Torment Depressed Teenager: Young Girl Later Commits Suicide

2008-11-21 06:08:03 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - News, Technology)

Wired PR News.com – A woman in Missouri allegedly devised a plan to torment a depressed 13 year-old online. The young girl subsequently committed suicide. As reported by Reuters, 49 year-old Lori Drew impersonated a teenage boy on the widely popular social networking site MySpace, and sent messages to Megan Meier. Megan was once friends with Drew’s daughter, and after their friendship ended, the woman and her daughter were said to prey on the young girl’s fragile emotional state. As quoted in the report of U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien, “Her purpose was to tease Megan Meier, to tease her, to humiliate her and to hurt her… One of her plans was to print out the conversations and take it to Megan’s school and let people make fun of this depressed 13-year-old girl.”

Megan’s mother says she found her daughter after she had hung herself with a belt in her closet. The young girl had been found crying at her computer shortly before reportedly stating to her mother “’they’re saying mean, horrible things about me,” while on MySpace. Her death was in 2006.

Drew has been charged with conspiracy and other crimes associated with the alleged plot against Megan Meier, and may face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if found guilty on all counts against her. Her attorneys state that she was not involved in the plot, and was not home when the messages in question were sent.