By BETSY TAYLOR
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. (AP) - City officials unanimously passed a measure Wednesday making online harassment a crime, days after learning that a 13-year-old girl killed herself last year after receiving cruel messages on the Internet.
The six-member Board of Aldermen made Internet harassment a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail. Mayor Pam Fogarty said the city had proposed the measure after learning about Megan Meier's death.
"It is our hope that by supporting one of our own in Dardenne Prairie, we can do our part to ensure this type of harassing behavior never happens again, anywhere," Fogarty said, adding, "after all, harassment is harassment regardless of the mechanism or tool."
Several dozen people broke into applause after the measure was passed.
Authorities have said they could not find a crime to charge anyone with in the case of Meier, who thought she had met a good-looking 16-year-old boy on the social networking site MySpace last year. But he began sending her mean messages and others joined in, her family said, then abruptly ended their friendship.
Megan hanged herself within minutes of receiving the last messages on Oct. 16, 2006, and died the next day.
Megan's parents, Ron and Tina Meier, learned about six weeks after Megan's death that the boy, Josh Evans, was not real. The boy was created by a mother down the street who wanted to know what Megan was saying about her own daughter, who had had a falling out with Megan.
Her father said he found a message from Josh, which he said law enforcement authorities have not been able to retrieve. It told the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her, he has said.
The four-page measure defines both harassment and cyber-harassment, essentially making it illegal to engage in a pattern of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to suffer "substantial emotional distress," or for an adult to contact a child under 18 in a communication causing a reasonable parent to fear for the child's well-being.
City attorney John Young said constitutionally protected activity would be exempt. The measure would apply when one of the people communicating was in Dardenne Prairie.
During a break in the meeting, Fogarty embraced Megan's mother with tears in her eyes. She said she was sorry there had not been a law previously in place to prosecute Megan's harassers.
Tina Meier said she was thrilled that the city had passed the new measure.
"This is not a stopping point," she said. "We're not done."
City officials also passed a resolution encouraging state and federal officials to outlaw cyber-harassment and cyber-stalking. A state lawmaker has questioned how state law could be altered without running afoul of First Amendment issues.
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Outlawing Bullies
It is too bad that the young girl was so pressured she committed suicide like that, cut I don't think that the online stuff could have been all that created her issues to begin with. I wonder what her state of mind was before the online stuff all started. How was her family life? Was she happy and 'normal' for girls her age? If the mother of the other girl was pretending to be the boy then she is worse than anything the late girl could have been.
I see some serious moral issues in all of this, but really now, to create laws like what they're doing will cause more issues down the road later on. Anytime we're asked to give up some freedoms, (even though we may not exercise them personally) for a little safety, we deserve neither safety nor freedom. I believe that is from Ben Franklin and it's not a direct quote, but close enough for this.
I see some serious moral issues in all of this, but really now, to create laws like what they're doing will cause more issues down the road later on. Anytime we're asked to give up some freedoms, (even though we may not exercise them personally) for a little safety, we deserve neither safety nor freedom. I believe that is from Ben Franklin and it's not a direct quote, but close enough for this.
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This is just sad. I think that the mother who created the profile should be prosecuted. The young girl obviously had underlying issues that contributed to her death. However, as a mother myself I would never do anything as manipulative as pretending to be somebody else to intimidate a child.
Active Ink Slinger
A Missouri prosecutor said Monday no charges would be sought in the case of a teen who hanged herself last year after chatting on MySpace, although he said adults should have prevented the tragedy.
Megan Meier, shown in an undated photo, killed herself after receving a critical message on MySpace.
Megan Meier, 13, killed herself after receiving a critical message on the MySpace social networking site from someone she thought was a boy named "Josh."
St. Charles County, Missouri, Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas said an 18-year-old woman posed as "Josh" on MySpace to find out what Megan was saying about a neighbor's daughter.
The message said Megan was "mean" to her friends, Banas said. Watch Megan's parents describe the tragedy »
"There is no way that anybody could know that talking to someone or saying that you're mean to your friends on the Internet would create a substantial risk," Banas said. "It certainly created a potential risk and, unfortunately for the Meiers, that potential became reality. But under the law we just couldn't show that."
But Banas said that conclusion doesn't mean no one is to blame. "Regardless of what we can charge or what we can't charge, there is no question the adults should have said something to stop this," he said. Watch Megan's mother react to the prosecutor's decision »
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Asked whether he is satisfied with laws pertaining to the case, Banas said, "The bottom line is there are some -- I think -- loopholes that I think need to be cleaned up."
The prosecutor said his inability to file charges does not mean those involved in the suicide will go unpunished.
"The loss of a life of a person that they once talked to as a friend, I'm sure, is just twisting them all up inside," Banas said.
Over several weeks, many of the exchanges on MySpace concerned innocuous topics such as what sports they liked, Banas said.
But on October 15, 2006, "another teenage young lady" was given the password to the "Josh" account, Banas said. She reportedly sent Megan a message saying she had heard the girl was "mean to your friends" and adding, "I don't know if I want to be your friend anymore."
Banas said that Megan responded, "Who's saying this? Who's saying I'm mean?"
The next day, the 18-year-old woman -- who was working for a neighbor of Megan's -- used the account to send messages to Megan. Megan asked "Josh" why the messages were nice a day after they were unkind, Banas said.
The 18-year-old woman then reviewed the history of the earlier messages, including Megan's request about who had accused her of not being nice to her friends, he said.
The woman then "fired a statement back to Megan saying, 'I'm not going to tell you who told me that, I don't do that, I don't tell on my friends,' " Banas said.
Megan responded with a message expressing anger and calling "Josh" "a few names," according to Banas.
"Josh" then sent a statement that included something to the effect of "this world would be a better place without you," Banas said. Accounts differ as to who was with the 18-year-old during the typing of the messages, he said.
When Megan's mother returned home, she found her daughter crying at the computer. After reading the messages, she criticized her daughter for using inappropriate language, Banas said.
Telling her mom that "I can't believe you're not on my side," Megan ran upstairs and hanged herself, Banas said.
Missouri's harassment statute says nothing about the Internet, and the stalking statute requires repeated conversations, so neither would apply in this case, Banas said.
The purpose of the neighbor who arranged for the "Josh" character "was never to cause her emotional harassment that we can prove," Banas said. Any case would be based on "what we can prove and what a jury would believe.
Megan Meier, shown in an undated photo, killed herself after receving a critical message on MySpace.
Megan Meier, 13, killed herself after receiving a critical message on the MySpace social networking site from someone she thought was a boy named "Josh."
St. Charles County, Missouri, Prosecuting Attorney Jack Banas said an 18-year-old woman posed as "Josh" on MySpace to find out what Megan was saying about a neighbor's daughter.
The message said Megan was "mean" to her friends, Banas said. Watch Megan's parents describe the tragedy »
"There is no way that anybody could know that talking to someone or saying that you're mean to your friends on the Internet would create a substantial risk," Banas said. "It certainly created a potential risk and, unfortunately for the Meiers, that potential became reality. But under the law we just couldn't show that."
But Banas said that conclusion doesn't mean no one is to blame. "Regardless of what we can charge or what we can't charge, there is no question the adults should have said something to stop this," he said. Watch Megan's mother react to the prosecutor's decision »
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Parents say fake online friend led to girl's suicide
Asked whether he is satisfied with laws pertaining to the case, Banas said, "The bottom line is there are some -- I think -- loopholes that I think need to be cleaned up."
The prosecutor said his inability to file charges does not mean those involved in the suicide will go unpunished.
"The loss of a life of a person that they once talked to as a friend, I'm sure, is just twisting them all up inside," Banas said.
Over several weeks, many of the exchanges on MySpace concerned innocuous topics such as what sports they liked, Banas said.
But on October 15, 2006, "another teenage young lady" was given the password to the "Josh" account, Banas said. She reportedly sent Megan a message saying she had heard the girl was "mean to your friends" and adding, "I don't know if I want to be your friend anymore."
Banas said that Megan responded, "Who's saying this? Who's saying I'm mean?"
The next day, the 18-year-old woman -- who was working for a neighbor of Megan's -- used the account to send messages to Megan. Megan asked "Josh" why the messages were nice a day after they were unkind, Banas said.
The 18-year-old woman then reviewed the history of the earlier messages, including Megan's request about who had accused her of not being nice to her friends, he said.
The woman then "fired a statement back to Megan saying, 'I'm not going to tell you who told me that, I don't do that, I don't tell on my friends,' " Banas said.
Megan responded with a message expressing anger and calling "Josh" "a few names," according to Banas.
"Josh" then sent a statement that included something to the effect of "this world would be a better place without you," Banas said. Accounts differ as to who was with the 18-year-old during the typing of the messages, he said.
When Megan's mother returned home, she found her daughter crying at the computer. After reading the messages, she criticized her daughter for using inappropriate language, Banas said.
Telling her mom that "I can't believe you're not on my side," Megan ran upstairs and hanged herself, Banas said.
Missouri's harassment statute says nothing about the Internet, and the stalking statute requires repeated conversations, so neither would apply in this case, Banas said.
The purpose of the neighbor who arranged for the "Josh" character "was never to cause her emotional harassment that we can prove," Banas said. Any case would be based on "what we can prove and what a jury would believe.
Gotta agree with C about this one. What if it was something said over the phone, in the hallway at school, in a note passed to her, or just from schoolyard gossip? Why the distinction for "cyber bullying"? Bullying has been around since there's been school. "Cyber-harassment"=waste of taxpayer money. 