Lori Drew, What’s your opinion of this case?

Lori Drew, What’s your opinion of this case?

Lori Drew, 49, was recently convicted of being a cyberbullying that lead to the suicide of a 13 year old girl.

Lori Drew and two others created a fictitious MySpace account for a 16 year old boy and started flirting with Megan Meier. The account was in the name of Josh Evans.

Apparently Lori Drew, her daughter and Ashley Gills, 19 an employee of a business Drew operated, was using the fictitious account to find out what Megan Meier was saying about her teenage daughter.

As the prank continued, I think it was Ashley Gills that said it had gone too far and she sent the final message saying the world would be a better place without her.
She claims that was an attempt to end the on line relationship and sadly it ended up being part of the reason a 13 year old girl took her own life. She wanted Megan to get mad and end the on line relationship.







Shortly thereafter that last message, Megan Meier was found hanging in her bedroom closest hanging by a belt.










Of course then we have wonderful defense attorneys that claim Lori Drew knew nothing about the account or any messages.

But when Gills appeared on Good Morning America, she admitted to sending the final message that lead to the suicide. Gills went on to say that Drew was actively involved in creating the MySpace account and even wrote some of the messages to Megan.

Of course, Drew and attorney deny these claims.

Gills also said they were combining ideas about how to figure out what Megan was saying about Lori Drew’s daughter. She claimed it was all three of them using the account.

Even with Lori Drew’s denials, Gills also said that Drew was the one responsible for the creation of the fake account. Gills and Lori Drew’s daughter both was telling Lori Drew this had gone too far and all Lori Drew would say is “it’s fine”, we can set her up.

Drew was the masterminds behind telling Megan go to the mall to meet Josh Evens, so they could laugh at her.

Then it was even reported that Lori Drew’s husband was also aware of the Josh Evans profile and after Megan committed suicide, he told them to delete the account.
Curt Drew was reported to have told Gills to keep quiet and admitted maybe we pushed her overboard.

Megan Meier parents, Tina and Rob was unaware Josh Evans was fictitious and they never found out about what Lori Drew done until 6 weeks after Megan’s death.
Tina Meier said our daughter died, committed suicide, and Lori Drew still didn't say a word.

Tina Meier said she will ask at sentencing that Drew serve the maximum penalty, which is 3 years in prison and a $300,000 fine.

Meier said the conviction did not bring any closure for her daughter’s 2006 death, but said she find some comfort in working to protect children against bullying and will continue to publicly speak around the nation.

Drew's lawyer, Dean Steward, said he is not yet planning an appeal because he had asked U.S. District Judge George Wu to dismiss the charges during the trial and Steward has said the matter is still under advisement. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 29.

Steward said the jury had only determined that Drew had violated her terms of service with MySpace, not that cyberbullying had occurred. The terms prohibit the use of phony names and harassment of other MySpace members.
Which is a shame to say the least the trio was responsible for the death of a 13 year old girl. I find it rather sad that the courts only found her guilty of misdemeanors.

Tina Meier works with the WiredSafety.org group to tell Megan's story in an effort to protect children from cyberbullying. Parry Aftab, a lawyer and executive director of the group, said she believes Drew's conviction will change the environment related to cyberbullying and cyberstalking.

"The verdict has made it very clear if you use the Internet as a weapon to hurt others, especially young, vulnerable teens, you're going to have to answer to a jury. This is not acceptable."

Hopefully they are right and this conviction will assist in the reduction of cyber crimes.

What are your thoughts about this case? Do you think the convictions fit the crimes? Do you think the court done the right thing in dropping the felony charges?

I look forward to your comments on this case.