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Prosecutor: Law doesn't allow for charges in MySpace suicide case

Prosecutors take second look at suicide involving 13-year-old

Neighbors shun Missouri family over Internet hoax and suicide

Drew family, allegedly involved in MYSpace suicide, issues new statement

  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A 13-year-old girl's suicide prompted her hometown to adopt a law against Internet harassment. Now, elected officials in Dardenne Prairie concede the first family to be aided by the new law could be the same one vilified in the girl's death.

  News accounts of the death of Megan Meier prompted officials in the suburban St. Louis community to pass a measure on Nov. 21 making it a misdemeanor to engage in Internet harassment.

  The girl thought she was corresponding over MySpace with a cute boy online. In fact, "Josh Evans" never existed. When messages from the fictional boy turned cruel, including one stating the world would be better off without her, Megan hanged herself. A neighborhood mother, Lori Drew, her 18-year-old employee and 13-year-old daughter played a role in creating the hoax.

  Now, the Drews may be on the receiving end of Web-based harassment, an ironic twist that has not gone unnoticed in Dardenne Prairie. Some city officials say the new local law might apply to alleged harassment against the Drews.

  "I would say that would be a possibility, that they could be the first," Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. "A law is a law is a law. You can't discriminate."

  Megan's suicide occurred in October 2006, but details emerged last month after the story first appeared in a suburban St. Louis newspaper. The story soon drew international attention. Since then, the Drews have been besieged with negative publicity. The backlash has been so bad that Lori Drew was forced to give up her advertising business.

  She may also be the victim of an Internet hoax.

  A blog entitled "Megan Had It Coming" surfaced more than two weeks ago. Earlier this week, the person writing the blog claimed the messages were being written by Lori Drew. The detailed blog lays out Drew's would-be motives for getting involved with the MySpace hoax against Megan.

  Drew's attorney, Jim Briscoe, said she is not the blog writer.

  "We have contacted Google, telling them that was an impostor," Briscoe said. Blogger.com, where the messages have been appearing, is a property of Google Inc. A Google spokesman said the company is currently reviewing the impersonation allegation.

  A statement from the Drew family released Friday said the Drews "have not and will not participate in any Web site or blog regarding this matter. Any Internet message that purports to be a member of the Drew family is being managed by an impostor and undoubtedly is being done for the purpose of further damaging the Drews' reputation."

  The St. Charles County Sheriff's Department is investigating who is behind the "Megan Had It Coming" blog postings and if a crime has been committed, a spokesman said.

  Fogarty said Dardenne Prairie's measure will be used to fight Internet harassment, regardless of who in the community is being victimized.

  "If we are called upon to use this law in their favor, we'd have to do that," Fogarty said of the Drews. "Sometimes I have to make decisions and take my personal feelings out of it." Briscoe said the Drews have not requested such action.

  Alderman Scott Kolbe said, "The Drews created this situation on themselves," and their lives are "probably pretty much destroyed."

  But, he said, "My belief is harassment is harassment, and two wrongs don't make a right. We passed this ordinance to protect everyone."

  St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said he had no idea if someone might be charged under the Dardenne Prairie measure. He explained any charges he brings are under state law, not under local ordinances.

  Banas said Internet harassment and stalking are crimes in Missouri under state law, but noted the sheriff's department is still investigating if a crime has been committed.

  Fogarty said she hopes the case will encourage people to educate their children about Internet use. She said the issue is bigger than what Dardenne Prairie is experiencing.

  People need to be held responsible for what they say, whether in person or online, she said. "This is about the Internet and what we're allowing to go on."

  (Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)