Jack Banas, district attorney for O’Fallon, MO says no charges will be filed in connection with Megan Meier’s suicide. He also makes some startling statements with regard to the case; namely, downplaying Lori Drew’s involvement in the creation and monitoring of the fake MySpace profile, laying the bulk of it at the feet of mystery employee “Ashley”, who is unavailable for police and press interviews because she is “hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.”
I have some difficulty with the way the story is being revised, after the storm of comment and controversy around this case. Here is the section of the original police report as Lori Drew reported it to police shortly after Megan’s suicide:
From Page 2 Lori Drew filed on 11/25/06:
Drew stated in the months leading up to Meier’s daughter’s suicide, she instigated and monitored a “my space” account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier’s daughter. Drew said she, with the help of temporary employee named “Ashley”, constructed a profile of “good looking” male on “my space” in order to “find out what Megan (Meier’s daughter) was saying on-line” about her daughter. Drew explained the communication between the fake male profile and Megan was aimed at gaining Megan’s confidnce and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people. Drew stated she, her daughter and Ashley all typed, read and monitored the communication between the fake male profile and Megan. Drew went on to say, the communication became “sexual for a thirteen year old.” Drew stated she continued the fake male profile despite this development.
According to Drew “somehow” other “my space” users were able to access the fake male profile and Megan found out she had been duped. Drew stated she knew “arguments” had broken out between Megan and others on “my space.” Drew felt this incident contributed to Megan’s suicide, but she did not feel “as guilty” because at the funeral she found out “Megan had tried to commit suicide before.”
Here are the prosecutor’s statements reported on KMBC-TV Kansas City today:
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.
Let’s start with the decision not to file charges. I can actually understand this one, because I’ve come to believe the one to prosecute is not the DA, but the US Attorney’s office. The US Attorneys are the ones who prosecute those “To Catch a Predator” cases, where they entrap monitor men chattng online with underage girls and then prosecute them.
There is a law on the federal books dealing with anonymous communication, making it a Federal crime. However, it appears as though there’s been a concerted effort on Lori Drew’s part to refocus the bulk of the responsibility away from her and onto the mystery employee who is not available for interview or comment at this time. Forgive the sarcasm, but how conveeeenient!
Which do you thinks has more credibility? Lori Drew’s statements to the police within weeks of Megan’s suicide, or the revisions to those statements now? Does it matter? In my opinion, it doesn’t matter whether it was “Ashley” or Drew.
I’m not a lawyer and I’m not pretending to be one on blogs either, but speaking as a parent, I will just say this: If I had knowledge of a scheme to entrap a child I knew to be at risk from a mental health standpoint, no matter how much she bugged me or how mad I was about her treatment of my daughter, I’d put an end to it immediately and march everyone over to the Meier’s house to confess and apologize. My daughter would be banned from MySpace indefinitely until she demonstrated that she understood what was and was not appropriate behavior on the Internet. The employee would be fired. That’s me. But Lori Drew didn’t do any of those things. Even if you accept the revised version of the story, she still knew and did nothing.
Julie Amero was very nearly sent to jail in Connecticut for a situation not of her own making which had the potential to expose children to pornographic images. The reasoning was that she had a duty to take whatever steps were necessary to protect the children from harm. I realize that the Meier case is in a different state and outside of the realm of school computers, but why wouldn’t the same reasoning apply here? If she knew, she should have done something to stop it. If you accept that she was a passive observer (I don’t), then you also accept that she did nothing to put an end to a situation which was clearly wrong, clearly moved into a realm of “sexual” behavior, and clearly escalated to the point where it seems that just about everyone had access to that MySpace account.
I don’t want more laws. The one they passed in O’Fallon won’t make any difference in the long run, because if you follow the prosecutor’s logic, if you can pass responsibility for the actual messages to a large group of anonymous flamers, no one is accountable. The law that should be enforced is the one already on the books, concerning the Federal Telecommunications Act and anonymous harassment.
If you want to make a statement, please consider a fax or email to the US Attorneys responsible for bringing charges under federal laws. Here is their information:
United States Attorney (Eastern Missouri)
Catherine Hanaway
Thomas Eagleton
U.S. Courthouse
111 S. 10th Street, 20th Floor
St. Louis, MO 63102
Fax: 314.539.2309
Carrie Costantin
Assistant United States Attorney
Project Safe Child Coordinator
Cybercrime Task Force
Fax: 314-539-2309
My other posts on Lori Drew and Megan Meier.
Technorati Tags: Megan Meier, Lori Drew, MySpace, harassment, suicide, legal
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