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For nearly two years now, there were questions as to whether Lori Drew would be charged for her crimes against Megan Meier, the teenage girl who committed suicide after falling victim to a hoax played out over MySpace. Today Drew was official charged-with fraud.
While this charge is seemingly appropriate, she did allegedly create the face persona of Josh Evans, but one must question whether the charge of fraud fit the crime?
Fraud is a crime that is usually linked to money. When fraudsters commit their crimes, they are looking for a monetary gain. Clearly, when Drew allegedly created the fake MySpace profile and contacted Megan Meier, money was the last thing on her agenda. Instead, her alleged motivation was to cause emotional harm. Unlike most crimes of fraud, this one lead to death.
While Meier’s suicide was not intentional, it happened. The plan that Drew had cooked up with her daughter and other teens backfired, and their innocent victim died. Meier’s death was the crime, not the alleged fraud of creating a fake profile on some social networking site. Instead of fraud, a more appropriate charge should have been involuntary manslaughter.
According to Wikipedia, involuntary manslaughter is caused when one causes death to another because of recklessness. Drew engaged in reckless behavior when she allegedly created the hoax in order to harass Meier. Drew knew that her victim was not mental stable, she also knew that at age 13 Megan Meier would be easy to trick. Yet, with those factors on her mind she continued with her malicious joke and continued with it until Meier felt the need to take a belt and hang herself in her bedroom closet.
Fraud is too lenient of a charge for this woman. Not only is it entirely too lenient for such a tragic event-it sets up a poor example for other cyber bullies and potential cyber bullies. One can only hope that more pressure will be put on this case and a more appropriate charge be called for.
15 Comments
May 15, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I’m still conflicted on this issue. She was an adult and really should have known better. It was fraud and it was down right mean. On the flip side, it takes more than a few mean words read online for a person to feel compelled to take her own life. There had to have been a whole lot more leading up to that and this Josh Evans or whatever was just the straw that broke her back. Why weren’t her parents more involved in her life? Or something? I don’t know, I really don’t. It’s very sad.
On a side note, woah, you’ve got some great links – I’m especially digging the fact that you link to a Clash site!!! And speaking of which, Rockin’ With Frigga has begun and will go on through the end of tomorrow, come on by if you have time!
May 15, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Megan was at a very vulnerable age in her life. Yes, her parents should have paid more attention to who she was talking to online and what they were talking about, but that does not excuse Lori Drew from submitting Megan to extreme emotional distress and mental torture. Drew knew exactly what she was doing. Having been a teenage girl herself, she knew exactly what would hurt the worst, and she set out with intentional malice and fore-thought to emotionally destroy Megan.
Drew, unwilling to allow her own daughter to experience all of the natural and normal moments of being a teen — things like getting your feelings hurt and being snubbed by people you thought were friends (the things that help hone your judgment and decision-making skills) relapsed into childish and vindictive teenage behavior herself. She seems to feel that it was her duty as a parent to protect her child. She expressed no remorse in Megan’s death until after the press turned against her.
I am all for prosecuting her for manslaughter. She might not have killed Megan with her own two hands, but had she not interfered, Megan might still be alive today.
May 16, 2008 at 5:29 am
I agree with you that involuntary manslaughter is the more appropriate charge as the stupid and unkind actions of this woman pushed a young girl over the edge.
But what i really fail to understand is how or why a grown woman ever wanted to engage with a thirteen year old girl on that level. Seriously, she must have some major issues.
Puss
May 16, 2008 at 7:05 am
I only hope that she gets what she deserves.. the parents on both sides ought to charged too.. (neglect)? Where were they when this was going on? I read your previous post and link of this story, and it seems to me that someone that young shouldn’t have been allowed to be doing anything online without the parents consent… I don’t let my 16 yr old do things like that.. we monitor what she is doing.. Unfortunately this young woman has to t live with this for the rest of her life..
May 16, 2008 at 7:37 am
I think fraud should be one of the charges held against Drew, but I don’t think that is all she should get. Involuntary manslaughter? I’m not sure about that either-though I do think in some way she should be held accountable for the death of a child. I suppose IM is the closest way to do that.
As for the parents being more involved-that’s not always the problem or the answer. I’ve seen kids who’s parents are right there all of the time but somehow, they get into trouble. And in this day and age…it’s easier for them to do that.
May 16, 2008 at 9:02 am
Involuntary Manslaughter definitely seems more appropriate. What this woman did was beyond fraud. She mentally manipulated a little girl into a deep dark drepression which resulted in suicide. It’s one of the sickest things of recent news. This woman should be imprisoned.
May 16, 2008 at 9:23 am
I wasn’t familiar with this case expect for I little that I remember from some time ago. After reading your links, I agree: fraud is too lenient a charge.
May 16, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I totally agree that she should have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. She caused the poor girl’s death as sure as if she had stabbed her to death. She got off too light.
May 16, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I can’t believe that a grown women, let alone a mother of a teenager herself, would do something like that. It’s beyond horrible.
May 17, 2008 at 4:59 pm
This is one of the saddest stories… as the mother of a teenager, it brings tears to my eyes. Teenaged girls are probably some of the most emotionally fragile creatures on the planet, no matter how much parental involvement they have. Fraud certainly sounds too lenient to me… it only addresses the creation of a phony account, and doesn’t even begin to speak to how that account was used.
May 17, 2008 at 9:19 pm
This is quite sad all round.
Actual I heard more good comes from blogs then bad.
But still this isn’t right.
Good information and education needs to be out there on mean nasty bloggers and how to handle them.
May 17, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Thanks for a thought provoking post! When I heard she was charged, I was simply happy she wasn’t going to get away from this mess without legal consequence. I didn’t give the individual charge — and whether or not it’s appropriate — a moment’s thought. Until now.
May 18, 2008 at 5:03 am
Lori Drew knew that Megan Meier was depressed and she let this site be set up. She knew the reason why it was to be set up. To see what Megan was saying about her daughter. In the end it became more than this. It was a way of bullying a person, hiding their true identity. As an adult she is meant to be responsible.
I know that Megan was really depressed, but she just needed the hole ‘Josh Evans’ thing to push her over the edge. She probably had already thought she was better off dead and when ‘Josh’ went evil on her, he was just confirming how she already felt and decided everyone was better off without her.
Lori knowing the extent of this girls depression, she should have told her kid and her kids friend that they should be supportive of this girl and not torture her.
The parents of Megan had obviously tried their hardest to make her better and they had their girl taken away from them over something that could have been avoided.
If Lori is not charged with something more than fraud then what hope is there for us all. If it has happened once and someone has basically gotten away with murder. What means it’s not going to happen again.
May 18, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I am unfamilar with this case…but based on the definitions fraud charges do not fit the crime…it wasn’t fraud…she may have misrepresented herself..but not fraud as we know it…..involuntary manslaughter based on definition would fit this crime..but I think that is to harsh …..the girl unfortunatel was already unstable and had issues…she was pushed…would she have committed suicide if this hadn’t happened…something tells me she might have….she needed help…criminal negligence on the part of the parents should be in question…..very sad all around….
May 18, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I had never heard of the story before… I’m reading the link you provided.
At first sight, it’s hard to judge but I’d say this is a new kind of “crime” and action should be taken because cyber-bullying can be an issue for teens.