To Lori Drew: Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa

by Karoli on December 10, 2007

Although I did disclaim my last post on Lori Drew with the caveat that the MeganHadItComing blog could be an invention, I wrote as if it were truly from Lori Drew.

My gut turned out to be wrong; it appears that the entire blog including the post that I analyzed was an excellent example of Internet fakery, as Shelley said it was, in her post here. Whoever wrote it has a very clear understanding of how people can behave, particularly when they are behaving badly. It’s a pity that such talent is wasted on invention, but nevertheless, it certainly had me fooled and certainly has me owing a large correction here on the blog.

While I stand by my analysis of certain personalities who get overinvolved in their children’s lives and then deny any responsibility for the consequences that ensue, I acknowledge that applying that analysis to Lori Drew was incorrect, and that I should have been more careful to be more general and less targeted at her. I apologize for the title and content of that post as it relates to Lori Drew.

I have maintained from the start that I do not wish for harm to come to any member of the Drew family. There have been comments posted on this blog that I absolutely do not agree with, especially any that target a member of that family for retribution. However, I believe that the conduct she engaged in was wrong, whether or not it was done for the motives I projected onto her in that post, and I believe the laws we currently have on the books do have application in this case.

But I am not a lawyer and I really don’t think passing more laws is the answer here. The irony of becoming the willing victim of yet another impersonation hoax is not lost on me, and part of me is beating myself over the head about not being more skeptical. Discovering that I bared the truth of some of my most painful life experiences in response to a hoax feels a bit like being punched in my currently-unreliable gut. Impersonation is a big hole in Internet communities that tends to undermine their overall usefulness. I don’t have an answer for that problem. I never have, despite over 12 years of working in online communities. I want to believe that people are fundamentally good. It’s a character flaw of mine, I know.

At any rate, this post is not about me or online communities. It’s about admitting that I was sucked into a hoax (read the last post and related links here and here.) I am closing comments on that post but am leaving it up, because to pull it off now would look like I’m trying to hide my own stupidity. I just see no reason to invite more vitriol there. If you want to say ‘you told me so’ here, you’re welcome to do so.

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  • justasking
    I don't understand why you're all so sure that the Megan Had it Coming blog was not written by Lori Drew. Where's the proof? Just because her lawyer said it wasn't? How come the Drew family has not asked the police to investigate who was behind the blog if it wasn't Lori?
  • Here's how I know it's a hoax: The original blog posts were removed along with all of the comments, and a Rickrolled video posted.

    The only person who could have posted that is the person with the access to that blogspot account.

    If it were Lori Drew, she wouldn't have been posting a Rickrolled video -- she'd have just pulled the whole thing down and that would have been the end of it. It was clear from the video and accompanying links that the person who invented the hoax was ending it, most likely at the demand of Google and Drew's attorney.
  • Don't worry - many people made the same mistake - INTELLIGENT people like you.

    We are really sick of the horrible and disgusting way the law has dealt with this and how now they & the media are DEFENDING poor poor Lori Drew. The story and her attorney's statements keep trying to rewrite history. Something we talk about on our site as the internet addicted & personality disordered do all the time. You know, bending the time-space continuum to play victim!

    Frankly, all one needs to do is go back to The Smoking Gun and re-read Lori Drew's initial statements to police. It's all there - but we guess Jack Banas and company can't read well. Or are willfully ignoring the facts.

    Danny Vice hit it on the head. MO Law officials want this to go away before the next election cycle. It shows, EOPC has said time & again, the major failings of the law when it comes to internet predation. The victims from our site will tell you, law enforcement does NOTHING or says "there's nothing we can do." For example, Nikki Catsouras' family probably got the same bum's rush from law enforcement in Orange County - particularly now that the Cal. Highway Patrol said in its press release it's "not responsible." Heck yes it is!

    A sociopath can fool anyone. Any time. And behind a keyboard, they feel invincible and totally anonymous about carrying out their sickness at the expense of others.

    Here's just three of our stories of how this can happen to anyone:

    We have a number of victims on our site - looking for help or justice with their online predator or sociopath.

    1. Victim JT. One of the many wives of Nathan Thomas - Thomas is a serial bigamist and sex addict who meets his victims online (inocuous sites like single parents). Once he's convinced them he's ok, profiles and grooms them - he regales them with FALSE stories of being with the CIA and covert missions in Iraq. All lies. JT finally found out what he was via our site (another of his victims outed him a couple years ago) and the detectives in Vancouver are now telling her SHE has to do all the legwork to charge him with bigamy and fraud and sue him for annulment of their marriage.

    JT is a single mom now, struggling to make ends meet and can't find a lawyer to take her case or anyone to help her because she's too broke. Thomas knew this and has even called to threaten her not to take action. She's pressing forward but its almost impossible. Media attention could bring her nightmare to an end. She is getting counseling for PTSD.

    Thomas - On the Run

    2. TM. This single, disabled mom was preyed on by a man she knew from college - 30 years ago. He is married, well known in his community, was the former publisher of a well known children's magazine and former marketing director of a famous entertainment company. He had a seemingly spotless reputation. Once he restarted their relationship, knowing she was severely depressed and being badly abused by her ex-husband - he seduced her into an online affair, knowing she wouldn't question his agenda. He sent a homemade porn video to one of her friends - who sent it to the FBI - FBI did NOTHING (we have a copy) He also got her to give up the names of her female friends, under the guise of "we are friends" & he wanted to get to know her other friends. This predator tried to start actual physical affairs with at least 2 of them. Once TM found out about him from other women he threaten her children. TM went to NYPD. After some investigation, it was found this man was not only up to his neck in online porn & phone sex activities but , he was a long-time client of former NYC Midtown Madame, Julie Moya. Information turned over on him was used partly to arrest Moya and shut down her Julie NYC brothel. (do a search on "Julie Moya" - you will find it.)

    The man was NEVER CHARGED by police with the many counts of soliciting they KNEW aboutand is walking around free as a bird - still working for a family publisher in Midtown. He has blamed her for every negative thing that's happened to him since (probably all done by other victims of his!) and has run an & offline smear campaign on this disabled, single mom - knowing she has no money to fight him. (we got some of the posts on his hate site taken down because they violated our copyright 0 we don't know if she did anything or was even able to) She was hospitalized for the trauma after it all and is still in counseling. By the way, he is also a political blogger using a false name and new online nickname as well.

    TM's story

    Update on TM's story and her cyberpath's abuse of FREE SPEECH

    3. RM - was involved with a man she knew from her church during a separation from her husband. Had no reason not to trust him. Found out later he was an online predator. Caught a serious STD from him and is still being treated for medical issues, on her own dime. After confronting him and coming clean to her husband she then exposed him. - the man sued her for "ruining his reputation" and blamed her for his "band" disbanding. She had no money to fight him and his unscrupulous lawyer.

    This man also had her husband thrown in jail and despite settling with her - is continuing to harass her via the legal system. We have heard from 3 other women this man has preyed on this way - including a possible illegitimate child. Now that he's sued "RM" - all his other victims are scared to come forward.

    RM's Story

    This is one of the reasons we run our site. To help people like Megan's family and these women find some degree of justice. To know they were emotionally raped, blamed by the media and public, manipulated by a predator and traumatized is hard. All of them deal with varying degrees of PTSD.

    This deplorable lack of response by law enforcement & officials just empowers others to go out to use and abuse via the internet. All the laws in the world don't mean a thing when law enforcement refuses to enforce them.

    Now let's see what happens to MHIC. Let's see if it goes beyond the "uh... we're investigating" phase. Complaints have been made to federal & state as well as ISPs and guess what? There they sit, hiding behind "free speech."

    MHIC falls squarely into the pervue Communications Decency Act of 1996. So does Lori Drew's behavior. So does the behavior of California Highway Patrol and death scene ghouls towards Nikki Catsouras' family.

    Law enforcement's response in Missouri? Unacceptable. Law enforcement's law of response to all these things? Deplorable. Media's cover up and "sympathy for the devil"? Typical.
  • People are born innocent. And as for being sucked into a hoax, you were not alone. Mea culpa.
  • You shouldn't feel silly. You were not the only one who believed that weblog belonged to Lori Drew. At least you corrected your post, which took guts.

    Frankly, I hope this cools down the whole event. This should be resolved directly between the two families.
  • Thank you both for your kind words -- they're appreciated. In a weird way, I'm glad it wasn't Lori Drew...it was so evil. But at the same time, I do feel a little silly. :)
  • Chris T.
    Your posts about Lori Drew and the tragedy she perpetuated have been not only insightful, but thought provoking, regardless of whether or not she wrote the "Megan Had It Coming" blog.
  • I read your earlier post and have been following the Lori Drew case a bit. From the little I know of you by what I read in your posts -- the last thing you should do it beat yourself up. Your writing has alot of integrity and thoughtfulness. We are all human beings and far from perfect. Chalk it up to experience, and move on!!!
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