YES! an indictment in the MySpace suicide case

ottoluv

People need to be held accountable for their actions.

Absolutely!  I just find it so hard to believe that an adult woman - a woman with a daughter herself - could do something like this to someone elses child.

Joyce

Thank goodness, something had to happen, what she did was unthinkable.

I agree the lady needs to be accountable for her part in this. What's interesting is that there is no federal law against cyber bullying. Lori Drew (the lady) has been charged with unauthorized access to MySpace and violation of the site’s guidelines, (which does prohibit cyber-bullying).

Megan, the victim, was too young to have a MySpace account, which means she also violated the site's guidelines. 

Source 

I'm not sure they're going to be able to prove anything against this woman. And basically, even if she is guilty, what she did was lie. That's really about it. I can see an argument that the young girl was too impressionable and her parents KNEW about her account and even about "Josh" and they still didn't do anything... Surely they have some accountability here, too?

FourIsCompany

I agree the lady needs to be accountable for her part in this. What's interesting is that there is no federal law against cyber bullying. Lori Drew (the lady) has been charged with unauthorized access to MySpace and violation of the site’s guidelines, (which does prohibit cyber-bullying).

Megan, the victim, was too young to have a MySpace account, which means she also violated the site's guidelines. 

Source 

I'm not sure they're going to be able to prove anything against this woman. And basically, even if she is guilty, what she did was lie. That's really about it. I can see an argument that the young girl was too impressionable and her parents KNEW about her account and even about "Josh" and they still didn't do anything... Surely they have some accountability here, too?

She assumed a fake person's identity for the express purpose of targeting a young girl for harassment.  IMHO, that goes beyond lying.  One of DH's friends spent some time in jail for posting a death threat on his former bosses Myspace when he was fired.  I suppose you could argue that all he did was post a comment (he didn't stalk the guy, etc), but it still landed him in jail. 

As far as the accountability of the girl and her parents?  Well, for the crime of being underage and getting a Myspace account this little girl has paid with her life, and for the crime of knowing that he daughter had a Myspace and had friends online (something that is not even a little unusual for a kid her age, I had the most over protective mother on earth and still conversed with people online and *all* of my cousins do) the girl's mother is sentenced to an eternity of having the mental image of her dead child hanging in her closet every time she goes to sleep at night.  Both parents get to spend the rest of their lives haunted by "what ifs."

It's time that the sorry excuse for an "adult" who started this mess pays piper. 

I'm interested in the outcome of this case because it has the potential to set precedent... 

FourIsCompany

I can see an argument that the young girl was too impressionable and her parents KNEW about her account and even about "Josh" and they still didn't do anything... Surely they have some accountability here, too?

I guess the parents could be charged with not being perfect parents, but if we start doing that most parents would wind up in jail.  These parents simply did not grasp the dangers.

All parents need to understand that youngsters using the web should be talked to about 

• how easy it is to lie on-line and
• how dangerous people try to victimize children via the web.

One of the biggest problems that parents have is developing good communication with their children.  This is one more reason for parents to work very hard on that area of parenting.

I certainly don't have any expectations that they be perfect parents. I'm saying that in this day and age, it's more important than ever that parents of a 13-year-old girl be more diligent about her internet activities. There's a lot of people out there who wish to do a lot more than "trick" them with erroneous identities.

And when I said that she basically just lied, what I mean is that as awful as what this lady did is, she's not responsible for the child killing herself. A child who would kill themselves over an internet relationship has some other issues that needed to be addressed in my opinion. If *just if* this Josh kid had been a real relationship with a real boy at school and he broke up with her and told her the world would be better without her and she killed herself, would we be blaming him?  

Excellent points, 4IC.  While what the woman did was cruel and thoughtless, it's just not the type of thing that a normal person of any age would kill themselves over. People break up with each other all the  time, saying terrible things to each other in the process - but that doesn't open the door to a rash of suicides.

Joyce

I'm looking at it from the girl's point of view. Yeah, the lady needs to pay for what she did. I am, in no way, defending this cruel and insane act. But would the girl have committed suicide if Josh were real? That's all I'm saying. The fact that it was a made-up identity doesn't add to the pain that the girl experienced. To her, it was real and so I'm just saying I think she was unstable. And if the lady has a "good" lawyer, he'll use that fact to make his case and get her punishment reduced.

People seem to want the lady to pay for the death of the girl, but she just isn't responsible for that. That's all I'm saying.

FourIsCompany

And when I said that she basically just lied, what I mean is that as awful as what this lady did is, she's not responsible for the child killing herself.

I disagree!!  This is an adult who deliberately set out to push a fragile child (that she knew) over the edge.  In my book that is manslaughter or at least reckless endangerment.  There was a reasonable expectation that urging the girl to kill herself could result in suicide.

FourIsCompany

A child who would kill themselves over an internet relationship has some other issues that needed to be addressed in my opinion. If *just if* this Josh kid had been a real relationship with a real boy at school and he broke up with her and told her the world would be better without her and she killed herself, would we be blaming him?  

Blaming him for being cruel - yes!!  Charging him - no, because he would have been a child without the maturity to understand the possible effects of his words on another child.

Was the woman actually aware that the girl was suicidal?  Because honestly, unless she had attempted suicide before, I'd have a hard time telling the difference between suicidal and the usual teenage angst/drama.

Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Was the woman actually aware that the girl was suicidal? 

It makes no difference.  When emotionally assaulted a certain percentage of adults will commit suicide and an even larger percentage of teenagers will commit suicide. 

When an adult decides to emotionally assault a child, the likely results are emotional damage, a nervous breakdown, or suicide.  Its like playing Russian roulette with someone's mind.  Sometimes the worst scenario becomes reality.

If you are going to threaten someone with an emotional "gun", "I didn't mean for it to go off" is not a legitimate defense.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/manslaughter

involuntary manslaughter
: manslaughter resulting from the failure to perform a legal duty expressly required to safeguard human life, from the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or from the commission of a lawful act involving a risk of injury or death that is done in an unlawful, reckless, or grossly negligent manner