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Faked online friendship led to girl's suicide, parents say
Faked online friendship led to girl's suicide, parents say
TheStar.com - News - Faked online friendship led to girl's suicide, parents say
Justice urged after depressed 13-year-old befriended, then dumped by `Josh'
November 18, 2007
BETSY TAYLOR
Associated Press
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo.–Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her.
Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he heard she was cruel.
The next day Megan committed suicide. Her family learned later Josh didn't exist; he was created by a former friend's family members.
Now Megan's parents hope the makers of the fraudulent social networking website profile will be prosecuted, and seek legal changes to safeguard youth on the Internet.
Her mother, Tina Meier, said she doesn't think anyone involved intended for the girl to kill herself.
"But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old, with or without mental problems, it is absolutely vile," she told the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which first reported on the case last week.
Meier said law enforcement officials told her the case didn't fit any law. But sheriff's officials have not closed the case and pledged to consider new evidence if it emerges.
Megan hanged herself in her bedroom on Oct. 16, 2006, and died the next day. Described as a "bubbly, goofy" girl, she loved spending time with her friends, watching movies and fishing with her dad.
Megan had been on medication, but had been upbeat after striking up a relationship on MySpace with Josh Evans about six weeks before her death, her mother said.
Josh told her he had just moved to the nearby community of O'Fallon, where he was homeschooled and didn't have a phone number yet.
Megan's parents said she received a message from Josh on Oct. 15 last year, saying he didn't want to be her friend anymore, that he had heard she wasn't nice to her friends.
The next day, as Megan's mother headed out the door to take another daughter to the orthodontist, Megan was upset about Internet messages. She asked Megan to log off. MySpace users must be at least 14, though Megan wasn't when she opened her account. A MySpace spokesperson did not return calls.
Someone using Josh's account was sending cruel messages. Then, Megan called her mother, saying bulletins were being posted, saying things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat.''
Megan's mother, who monitored her online messages, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her daughter was sending and told her so. Megan ran upstairs. Her father, Ron, tried to tell her everything would be fine. About 20 minutes later, she was found. She died the next day.
Her father said he found a message the next day from Josh, which he said authorities have not been able to retrieve, telling the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her. Another parent, learning of the fake MySpace account from her own daughter who had access to it, told Megan's parents in a counsellor's office about six weeks after her death. That's when they learned Josh was imaginary, they said.
The woman who created the fake profile has not been charged. She allegedly told the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department she created Josh to find out what Megan was saying about her child online.
A person who answered the door at the family's house told an Associated Press reporter on Friday they had been advised not to comment.
Megan's parents are now separated and plan to divorce.
Aldermen in nearby Dardenne Prairie have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment for consideration on Wednesday.
"Is this enough?" said Mayor Pam Fogarty.
"No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something, and you have to start somewhere.''
转一下。。。MySpace么。。。
大家小心。 |
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发表于 2007-11-17 10:38:27
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发表于 2007-11-17 10:48:07
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。。。Yeaaaa bcareful