No charges will be filed in MySpace suicide case
Missouri prosecutor says current law doesn't allow it

Associated Press


ST. CHARLES, Mo.— No criminal charges will be filed against people who sent cruel Internet messages to a 13-year-old girl before she committed suicide, the St. Charles County prosecutor said today.

The parents of Megan Meier, who hanged herself last year, said her suicide came minutes after she received mean messages through the social networking site MySpace.

County Prosecutor Jack Banas said at a news conference there was no applicable statute to file charges in the case. Banas said he looked at laws related to stalking, harassment and child endangerment, but found no repeated incidents of threats to someone's life or health, and no organized conspiracy.

A police report said a mother from the neighborhood and her 18-year-old employee fabricated a profile for a teenage boy online who pretended to be interested in Megan before he began bullying her. The police report indicates others gained access to the profile, and it is not clear who was sending Megan messages just before her death.

Banas said based on additional interviews, the fake MySpace page was not created by the mother of one of Megan's friends. He said the page was created by the 18-year-old employee, though the mother and her 13-year-old daughter knew about the page. He said he was unable to speak directly with the 18-year-old, whom he said has been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.

After the case became public, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt asked lawmakers to review state law to see if changes were necessary to better deal with cases that involve Internet bullying. Some municipalities have also considered or passed statutes to strengthen laws that deal with Internet harassment.

It makes me sick that they aren't pressing charges. There should be some sort of child predator law for situations like this. What kind of mother does that to another child? How freakin' low can you go?? Don't even get me started on the example it said for the woman's OWN daughter :no :sadeyes

What this particular article fails to mention is that the "woman from the neighborhood" was a mother of one of Megan's former friends, posing to see if Megan was talking trash about her daughter. Sick.

i'm with you becca i read this and got so pissed off i was just like :vent

It makes me sick that they aren't pressing charges. There should be some sort of child predator law for situations like this. What kind of mother does that to another child? How freakin' low can you go?? Don't even get me started on the example it said for the woman's OWN daughter :no :sadeyes

What this particular article fails to mention is that the "woman from the neighborhood" was a mother of one of Megan's former friends, posing to see if Megan was talking trash about her daughter. Sick.


I agree with you :no :reallymad It really upsets me.

:sigh

The part of me that wants to be the bigger person is trying to deal with the fact that maybe fate/karma/higher being just did not want those people in jail for whatever reason.

Then the other part of me says yeah, so they can get robbed and beat up in their OWN house.
:lol

I can't win with myself. :shrug

I don't think it's fair to press charges when someone is mean to another person and the person ends up killing themselves. Sure, it was messed up, but it's a far cry from standing there and killing them yourself. I think people who kill themselves are going to do it regardless of what someone says to them. If she was at the point where death looked better than her present and FUTURE, then I don't think what ONE PERSON said to her would really make much of a difference.

It's not that simple though in this case.

It's not as if it was two consenting adults badgering back and forth. It was an adult woman and a minor child. The woman was posing as a boy that pretended to be interested in the girl and then turned on her and said some HORRIBLE mean things. This was a 13 year old CHILD who had esteem issues, was overweight, etc, and was receiving messages from this "boy" that "the world would be better off without her", more or less TELLING HER SHE WAS WORTHLESS. The woman lied about her identity and used the myspace page as an outlet to manipulate and ultimately harrass the child. She was intentionally harming the child with words. IMO it's no different than the Dateline predators. It's harmful, it's deceitful, and it is damaging - in this case, it was deadly.

There was a lengthy story about this on the news this morning, which is where I got my info.

I still don't think pressing charges in that case would be warranted. She's a sick ho, that's for sure, but she really didn't kill that girl. She was cruel and mean, but if it had been another kid and not an adult would you still feel charges should have been pressed? Kids are doing that every single day to other kids, and some of them commit suicide. If someone is that far gone, they'll do it anyway. All they need is a reason from someone looking at them wrong, to getting dumped.

I still don't think pressing charges in that case would be warranted. She's a sick ho, that's for sure, but she really didn't kill that girl. She was cruel and mean, but if it had been another kid and not an adult would you still feel charges should have been pressed? Kids are doing that every single day to other kids, and some of them commit suicide. If someone is that far gone, they'll do it anyway. All they need is a reason from someone looking at them wrong, to getting dumped.

I agree with you, Schaele, but I think she needs to be prosecuted for harassment anyway. Whether or not the girl died has nothing to do with the fact the woman still harassed that girl.

Yes it was definitely harassment. I will totally go with that. :yes

Well, the problem is there were no laws preventing this kind of harrassment so what can they do? However, from what I understand, the city did pass a law recently to make this kind of cyberbullying illegal but it will not be retroactive because we have civil rights in this country.

I still don't think pressing charges in that case would be warranted. She's a sick ho, that's for sure, but she really didn't kill that girl. She was cruel and mean, but if it had been another kid and not an adult would you still feel charges should have been pressed? Kids are doing that every single day to other kids, and some of them commit suicide. If someone is that far gone, they'll do it anyway. All they need is a reason from someone looking at them wrong, to getting dumped.

It wasn't a kid. That's the difference. It was an adult who knew better, who preyed on the emotions of this girl and pushed her over the edge.

I think it's a little outlandish (that's not the right word, but I can't find it right now) to say that if a child is that far gone they're just going to kill themself anyway. That's like saying "well there's nothing we can do for ya dearie, why not just run along and find yourself a noose."

There's no charges to press because it isn't illegal. My point is, it should be. A child, or "another kid" doesn't know enough of life to realize how damaging or how horrific their words can be. Kids don't know the power of their own words. Adults, PARENTS, are not as naive as children are - that's why at the age of 18 you become legally responsible for not only your words but your actions as well. She wasn't stupid, and I strongly believe that there should have been consequences for the irresponsibility of her actions.

I agree there should be a law about harassment, and she should have had something happen to her..

HOWEVER... I think the lesson here is, YOU NEVER know who you're talking to online. It could be anyone.

This is why I try to stay on top of my 15 y/o online time. For sure!

This pisses me off so much! She should be sentenced to death!
I hope she gets hers in life

i hope it eats at her conscience and she kills herself

:no that is terrible they aren't going to do anything to those two adults.

You know what is really awful? This happened over a year ago! The only reason it was brought to light here in St Louis, is because they were honoring the anniversary of her death.

This should have been brought out as soon as the investigation was complete!!!

It wasn't a kid. That's the difference. It was an adult who knew better, who preyed on the emotions of this girl and pushed her over the edge.

I think it's a little outlandish (that's not the right word, but I can't find it right now) to say that if a child is that far gone they're just going to kill themself anyway. That's like saying "well there's nothing we can do for ya dearie, why not just run along and find yourself a noose."

There's no charges to press because it isn't illegal. My point is, it should be. A child, or "another kid" doesn't know enough of life to realize how damaging or how horrific their words can be. Kids don't know the power of their own words. Adults, PARENTS, are not as naive as children are - that's why at the age of 18 you become legally responsible for not only your words but your actions as well. She wasn't stupid, and I strongly believe that there should have been consequences for the irresponsibility of her actions.

:yes

This is so sad..and not exceptable!! What sorry a excuse for an adult. Ughh...What is this world coming to?

You know what is really awful? This happened over a year ago! The only reason it was brought to light here in St Louis, is because they were honoring the anniversary of her death.

This should have been brought out as soon as the investigation was complete!!!

Absolutely :(