MyCrimeSpace

41 opinions for Girl commits suicide over MySpace hoax

• Jon - The DC Traveler
  Nov 14, 2007 at 2:55 pm

  Sometimes I wonder if MySpace is truly valuable to kids or if it’s simply a scary place for nutcases and pedophiles to stalk children, kids to gang up on other kids electronically and children to stay inside staring at a PC screen when they should be outside learning social skills and just being “kids”.

• Trench
  Nov 14, 2007 at 3:00 pm

  I would say it’s as dangerous as any other tool. If it’s used properly it can be great but if it’s abused like in this case it can do massive destruction.

  Thanks for commenting Jon.

• BelchSpeak
  Nov 14, 2007 at 3:12 pm

  You know, I understand this family’s loss, and it is horrible. But I really don’t think the parents should have let this child have a myspace profile, and even though they were monitoring it, at the first sign that Megan was emotionally incapable of dealing with the maturity required to be on the site, they should have pulled the plug.

  The Dad should have preserved the evidence too.

  But the root of this problem is something Trench and I have discussed several times- age verification, and identity verification.

  If myspace profiles were hard-wired to real people, anonymous abuse wouldn’t happen as often. And age verification is there to protect children.

  Myspace will have to be sued to incorporate some common sense safety.

• Hil
  Nov 14, 2007 at 3:15 pm

  It’s frustrating they couldn’t find something to pursue against these people. Harassment, stalking, something. The truth is though that they’ll have to live with what they did, and they’ll have to live with the fear that someone will get enact revenge through their daughter. :(

  I hope at the very least that DHS has gotten involved in the case. People who will stalk a child online have no business caring for kids of any age.

• jade
  Nov 14, 2007 at 4:42 pm

  i have no words…..

  and as you said, as a parent, that just broke my heart.

• Diana
  Nov 14, 2007 at 5:10 pm

  I feel that kids have a hard enough time dealing with peer pressure, but to be a parent and think these things were okay for them to do and get away with it is a crime , shame on them for being cruel and not letting the kids deal with there problems.

• Ice
  Nov 14, 2007 at 11:19 pm

  The adults were her neighbors, who wanted to know if she was talking bad about their kid. At least that is what i read. Now that doesn’t me that i think it was ok, because i don’t and i think they should be charged.

  http://www.wjbf.com/midatlantic/jbf/news_index/entertainment_news.apx.-content-articles-JBF-2007-11-14-0011.html

• Alyric
  Nov 15, 2007 at 12:19 am

  Jesus Christ.

  It’s a good fucking thing I don’t live near this family. I swear to god.

  You’re right, they deserve to rot in hell.

• Charges possible but not likely in MySpace suicide
  Nov 15, 2007 at 10:44 am

  […] Jack Banas, is saying that there may be criminal charges for the MySpace suicide death of Megan Meier but he also says it’s unlikely. The county prosecutor says he never saw the complete case […]

• Sir Poop A Lot
  Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 pm

  Danny Boy? A tad melodramatic aren’t we?

• Deviante
  Nov 17, 2007 at 11:14 am

  If i was Megans father, I simply would take a 45 and shoot the ppl behind the hoax in the head. Screw em. Mess with my child, I kill you. People in america have no idea what respect is. Sometime the only way to teach it to them as at the end of a barrel.

• Alex Mugume
  Nov 17, 2007 at 11:11 pm

  My heart goes out to the whole family.

  However, my prayer is that Tina and Ron forgive each other and work together in this difficult period. Regardless of who was at fault, separating and divorcing at this difficult time is not good for either party. I am praying that the Almighty God touches both their hearts to become kind to each other, forgive each other, stay, and grow stronger as one family.

  Puh-leeze do not harden your hearts. You can do it. Love endures long. You can forgive each other. Please read 1 Cor 13. It’s the key to success in such difficult times.

  Please, reconsider. Don’t break up.
  I love you both.
  Please, don’t break up.

  Family Love Teacher

• Christina
  Nov 19, 2007 at 3:20 pm

  This is really sad. I feel sorry for the adult that did this to this girl. They may not have killed her with their hands but they pushed her to where she took her own life, so they might as well be seen as murderers. Seriously, what kind of person would do this? What purpose could this have had? To check to see if this girl was picking on their child. No matter they went too far with the insults and because of their immature behavior a child is dead. I wish I only had the chance to talk to this girl, perhaps that is all that was needed to keep her alive. Justice needs to be served.

• broman
  Nov 19, 2007 at 7:38 pm

  Ok this really sad but if this girl didnt kill herself over this she would have done it another time. She clearly lacked the maturity and common sense of a 10 year old non the less a 13 year old. What happened was sad but if she couldnt handle a virtual relationship at 13 then she was domed from the start. Parents have longed helped their kids have revenge this case just happen to have a sad ending. My sympathy goes to the girls family and the creator of Josh.

• Paul
  Nov 19, 2007 at 9:07 pm

  Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.

  Megans father deserves an award for restraint. If I was in his shoes, I’d have got a gun, and shot the woman who did this.

  They will face criminal charges for this, they simply must. Otherwise, that woman is a dead woman walking.

• Mark
  Nov 20, 2007 at 11:03 am

  This is pretty sad when a group of adults have
  nothing better to do than mess with a young
  vulnerable person’s head.The people who
  perpetrated this hoax are complete losers.
  If they can live with themselves after this,it
  only confirms that they are the lowest form of
  human scum.

• Adam
  Nov 21, 2007 at 1:28 am

  I share your disgust and my heart also goes out to the family. It’s tragic that there are no criminal charges and that some reason because it’s over the internet it’s not seen as bad, it’s simply a lack of understanding. I think if they had sent the correspondences by post there would have been immediate charges. Even if found not guilty due to lack of evidence the charge itself should act as a deterrent to mentally unstable adults preying on mentally unstable children. As for the thought that her parents should have banned her myspace access, give me a break, it’s a way for people to express themselves and SHOULD be safe. I think in cases like this there are lots of hindsight kind of stuff on the parents’ end (could have should have etc.) but regardless of those things, it is criminal for an adult to manipulate a child into doing harm to themselves. It’s great to see all your posts and support! Especially for the hot and far underground place those that caused this should be.

• LADY EMILY
  Nov 21, 2007 at 11:39 am

  Comming from a 17 year old who recently got rid of all her social site accounts, (myspace facebook and a local radio station site.) For this exact reason, people are much worse on the internet and you get some pretty perverted people who go looking for little girls / boys to prey on. The girl could have just canceled all her accounts like I did, but its much worse for the kids who were the start of this and they should be charged for something. If you falsely accuse someone of something and they get beatup and killed in jail / prison you get charged w/ wrongful death …. what is the difference???!
  now that I have vented some,
  Have a great day
  xoxxo
  Emily

• Danny Vice
  Nov 21, 2007 at 11:20 pm

  As details about the adult’s 6 week cyber-voyeur techniques emerged, the more I am convinced that outing this kind of behavior is not only right, but essential. Essential? Really?

  It is becoming clearer everyday that the adult here employed many of the same grooming techniques that child predators utilize to charm their way into gaining a child’s trust. The most significant key here is that Lori Drew spent approximately 6 full weeks baiting Megan into this trust by posing as a “cute” boy that Megan would be attracted to.

  Right here, the adult utilizes the sexual stimulation that exists in male/female pair bonding in order to manipulate the 13 year old girl.
  She groomed her victim like many child predators do, enticing her with flirtation, mild sexual conversation and playing on Megan’s weakness. Lori knew that Megan had a low self esteem and was treated for depression.

  Danny Vice
  http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com

• ryan Gunwitch-Black
  Nov 26, 2007 at 1:39 am

  it is really pathetic that adults did this to a child. i would like to wipe them from the planet just because ignorant mules of their ilk tend to drive slow in the fast lane and make me late for gigs, piss me off in the grocery store and bear dirty, dumb little xerox copies of themselves….. but wouldn’t the outcome have been the same if a real boy her age treated her the same? if a boy had liked her and then changed his mind…..?

  she obviously had mental problems and should maybe have had a bit more attention from her parents….a 13 yr old really doesn’t belong on myspace anyway.

• BelchSpeak » Post Topic » Mary Shieler Cybersexed Brian Barrett to Death
  Nov 28, 2007 at 2:22 pm

  […] But Mary Shieler remains a free woman, which is somehow, grossly unfair. She committed aggravated identity theft to torment an unstable married man to the point that he murdered another man! How self absorbed and vacuous can a bitch be? She sounds just like the neighbors who drove a young girl to suicide by creating a fake profile on Myspace. […]

• DARREN
  Nov 29, 2007 at 9:38 pm

  I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EARS THIS
  MORNING , AFTER HEARING ABOUT THE
  DEATH OF THIS 13 YEAR OLD GIRL ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA IT BROUGHT FEAR TO MY HEART AND TEARS TO MY EYES TO THINK SOME
  GROWN ADULT WOULD STOOP SO LOW
  I HOPE GOD PUNISHES THE PERSONS
  ALL BEHIND THIS ORDEAL THAT LED
  TO MEGANS DEATH , I MYSELF SUFFERS FROM BIPOLAR AND
  I KNOW THE STRUGGLE IT IS TO BATTLE MENTAL HEALTH DISEASES , IT IS
  NOT EASY AT ALL .. MEGAN , I PRAY
  THAT YOU ARE AT PEACE WITH THE LORD , I KNOW SOME WHERE YOUR
  SOUL WILL LIVE ON IN THE KINGDOM
  OF HEAVEN , AND I HOPE MYSPACE
  WILL GET SHUT DOWN PERMANENT
  THIS PLACE IS NOTHING BUT A PLACE
  WHERE PEDOPHILES HANG OUT ..AND MYSPACE IS FULL OF TROUBLE MAKERS
  THAT HAVE NO LIFE BUT RUIN THE LIFE OF OTHER PEOPLE ..WELL, TO MEGAN’S FAMILY GOD BLESS YOU!

• Lynn
  Nov 29, 2007 at 9:48 pm

  I was watching Good Morning America
  when it was said , about the death of
  Megan Meier … I could not believe my ears , Its such a shame that grown
  adults can not act like adults instead
  of young kids ..So many crimes have
  been committed ..So many different
  stories has come about because of
  Myspace .. When are people going to
  shut this site down .. This is the last
  draw back .. The death of this young
  teen , who could have had many years
  of her life left but do to the torture
  of adults , She took her own life
  How can people live with them self’s,
  who do these things , is way beyond me ..Well, Megan i hope and pray that
  your heart is at Peace with the Lord
  cause you been through alot of stuff.
  But Megan , was a very beautiful
  young lady who didn’t deserve to die
  God Bless the family of , Megan Meier!!

• Erin
  Dec 9, 2007 at 9:16 pm

  This is just plain sickening. How could another MOTHER and FATHER do that to a child? They deserves the needle in their arms. They knew that Megan had suffered from ddepression, and they knew what could happen as a result of the myspace account. Megan may have taken her own life, but there is no doubt that Lori Drew and her husband are to blame. I am the same age that Megan Meier was when she commited suicide. I have never had a myspace or facebook account because of all of the molesters and predators out there. Take this from an 8th grader, ALL kids have a myspace account. People underestimate the power of the myspace. I hope kids will smarten up and stop using myspace. God Bless You Megan Meier’s family and may Megan rest in peace.

• Kimba and DeeDee
  Dec 11, 2007 at 5:52 pm

  We think that some people are so mean and ugly and for a parent to do something so low and inconsiderate is grounds for some kind of punishment criminally may Megan rest in peace and no one can pick on her again I pray that this lives on the conscience of rude people who made her take her own life and they know who they are don’t they? GOD bless Megan family and friends R.I.P. from Iowa

• Sarah Pingol
  Dec 14, 2007 at 12:56 am

  So many of you have expressed your thoughts and feelings towards this very disturbing news of 13-year-old Megan Meier. And though all she simply needed was to be loved, in the end, she truly didn’t feel it. It must be unimaginable to comprehend how the Meier’s must be going through such a tragedy, and losing their daughter to what they believe was because of MySpace. Like any individual, they have their rights. They have a right to blame it on the social network, but yet Megan did have a problem. And honestly, it should have begun to be treated before it went this far. Because authorities could never find that last message that only Ron Meier saw,

  “Everybody in O’Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you.”

  there should be some kind of consequence for these actions. Age and identification laws should somehow be enforced when it comes to social networks like MySpace, Facebook or Friendster—because cases like these are going to continue to happen. Adults can find children like Megan who they know are mentally and socially suffering—and they can take advantage of that. The Meier’s are said not to have a case to file. But all they can do is make a difference so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else’s daughter.

  So many disagree with the fact that Lori Drew, the mother who created this fake account, did not cross the lines or commit a crime of harassment or child endangerment breaking any state laws. According to the St Charles Journal, the parents of Megan don’t want to file a suit against the Drews. They just want the laws to change. Shouldn’t there at least be restrictions on these social networks as far as identification of name and age?? I think so. But anyone can simply act as anyone they want over the internet. And here, it was abused. And it will continue to be abused unless something is done about it. Millions of users log on to Myspace everyday. It was created as a means for social networking, but because of cases like these, the law must step in. What is being done to prevent horrible things like this from happening? Can’t Megan make a difference in this somehow by keeping others from doing the same thing? The Fourth Amendment gives us a right to privacy—but under probable cause should authorities be able to force one to give those rights up. In Megan’s case, she obviously had issues before she got the hurtful message. But it didn’t have to end that way. This abusement on Myspace just put the icing on the cake for her, and she couldn’t take it anymore. It wasn’t even something that was said to her face. It was a message she read that she simply could have ignored. But she took it personally, and the Drew’s took advantage of her. Think about the parents, and think about Megan never knowing that there was no Josh Evans who thought she was cute. The last words that she took in from someone were not “I love you’s.” They were words that told her she didn’t belong in this world. And that should be enough to do something so that horrible people like Lori Drew, can never do such an act again

• Rogan
  Dec 14, 2007 at 7:39 pm

  I may be a little unsympathetic about this but I don’t understand what MySpace has to do with any of this. This type of harassment could happen on any realm whether it’s in the school yard, in a chat room, on the phone, or in any other social venue. There are plenty of people in the world that aren’t nice and this situation is one that shows a family with a complete lack of morals. The problem isn’t MySpace the problem is the parent’s should never have allowed their child whom has a mental disease like depression on a open chat website especially when she showed from the start that was not emotionally stable enough or mature enough to use it. Normal children and children with mental illnesses are confronted with horrible rumors and teasing every day but they still don’t kill themselves. This teen obviously needed more attention and therapy. The whole point of this is there are too many people blaming MySpace and saying MySpace should be terminated. If there is harassment in school do they close the schools down….? No! If you being harassed by phone calls do you cancel you phone…. No! MySpace is easy, all you have to do is not turn on the computer and problem solved which is what her PARENTS should have done in the first place. Karma will take care of the people who harassed Megan Meier, but blaming MySpace is not the answer….

• Cody
  Dec 24, 2007 at 4:19 am

  haha she deserved death? Kind of ridiculous to throw the death penalty around, isn’t it?
  If this little girl was so depressed that a fictitious boy managed to dazzle her, then there were some serious things wrong with her.
  Blaming the internet is easy, and popular, because it shifts the blame away from the real causes. Things like shitty parenting, or the possibility of inevitability. If she killed herself over something so silly, there was no way she would have been able to go through life.
  There will never be any kind of age verification on the internet, because that is a completely ridiculous idea. The entire idea behind the internet is that you can become whatever you want, we’re all equal online.
  Children can’t be molly-coddled all the way through life, at some point they have to use their own judgement, online or not.

• dave
  Dec 31, 2007 at 8:52 pm

  in CT there is a crime called “risk of injury to a minor” the law makes it a crime to endanger the health or morals of a child. It is a five year felony. If you throw the newspaper at your wife when your kid is in the room, you get charged with a 5 year felony. But it would be a good law to have in this case. I guess they don’t have a similar law in PA.

• dave
  Dec 31, 2007 at 9:45 pm

  don’t they have these laws everywhere??

  (CBS/AP) FARMINGTON, Conn. Police have arrested a 13-year-old Farmington girl, accusing her of creating an Internet account in the name of a public school teacher.

  Police said the girl has been charged with criminal impersonation for posting a Myspace.com Internet message board account in the name of the teacher without the teacher’s knowledge.

• S.CRAWFORD
  Jan 10, 2008 at 3:09 pm

  OK WHY PRESS CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST THE ADULTS YEAH THEY WERE WRONG FOR WHAT THEY DID BUT IN ALL THEY’RE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR MEGAN TAKING HER OWN LIFE THAT WAS HER OWN DESCISION AND YOU CAN HATE ME FOR SAYING THIS BUT I SHOW NO SYMPATHY AT ALL FOR HER MAYBE FOR HER PARENTS THATS IT WELL MAYBE NOT HER PARENTS BECAUSE IF THEY KNEW SHE HAD MENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE PAST THEY SHOULD OF REDFLAGGED IT I MEAN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT PEOPLE ALL THE TIME ON OR OFF LINE SO THAT JUST GIVE US THE RIGHT TO TAKE OUR OWN LIVES NO SIR NOT ME BUDDY

• Trench
  Jan 10, 2008 at 3:13 pm

  I just hate you because you type in all caps.

• Dan
  Jan 10, 2008 at 3:20 pm

  S. Crawford, I’m glad you’d never take your own life. You must be strong to endure people “talking about you all the time.” I hope if those are kids being mean to you, some adult intervenes and teaches them how to be decent, respectable people. If those people being mean to you are adults, they’re preying on you as a young person. If they are being cruel, lying, making you feel inadequate, taking away loving friends and sabotaging your happiness, then they are criminally responsible for abusing you and must be held accountable.

  It’s good that you’re tough, but you should also expect people to act decently. We’re a society. We can expect that.

• Dan
  Jan 10, 2008 at 3:22 pm

  And 13 year olds do not “decide” about life and death matters. They decide what soda to buy with their allowance.

• Rob
  Jan 10, 2008 at 7:39 pm

  I agree with Dan. First of all, this was a 13 year old girl. I remember being 13, when the most mportant things in life were being with your friends, and how other people perceived you. Being popular was actually something largely important back then because we reaslly didn’t have much else to worry about. I can see how something like this happening could be extremely devastating to a 13 year old girl.

  The adults who did this were just that, adults. Which SHOULD mean that they know better than to play with a young teenage girl’s emotions. They should bear full responsibility for her suicide.

  As for the girl being mentally unstable, what 13 year old do you know that IS mentally well balanced? 13 is a rough age for anyone, it’s an age where a child is starting to develop his or her own social identity.

  My two cents.

• MeatShake
  Jan 18, 2008 at 5:45 pm

  What a fucking idiot, she committed suicide over some kid she never met? Thats pathetic, the Army should utilize Myspace as a way to wipe out the idiotic population of America, just hit on horny sluts, call them fat when they’re clearly not, they let them kill themselves, totally fool-proof!

• melanie
  Mar 19, 2008 at 4:37 pm

  that is so fucked up and if i knew those pple i would tell them wut i think about them 2 their fuckin face
  that eally pisses me off!~
  maybe the parents should have asked this girl if she was talkin shit and not make her feel so low bout herself
  personaly i think that those pple deseve to die!~!~!~!~~!

• sammy
  Apr 3, 2008 at 9:18 am

  That poor girl… I didn’t know Megan, but I do sympathize as I’ve grown up around bullying and I was that age not that long ago.

  True, she made an unwise choice, but nobody has the right to judge her and neither do I because we didn’t know her and what was going on in her head. Anyways, I wish people wouldn’t still prosecute her because that’s what happened to her to come to the choice she made.

  People are also blaming her parents because she was on Myspace. Big deal. People lie all the time about their ages/sex on there, there is no definite way to prove it unless you personally know them. It really doesn’t matter if the attacks started on Myspace or some forum that she was a member on… the problem is that the Internet can give people a big mouth and some people abuse it to launch malicious attacks on people, just like what trollers do for fun. People have to be reminded that words hurt, seriously hurt. If anything, Megan proved this fact and hopefully will be a painful reminder to those who use the Internet for callous attacks. There are less face-to-face attacks and cowards like to be anonymous.

  I just saw a video from some guy talking about Megan. He said that it was Megan’s fault and he said it was no different than insults on the school grounds. I hate when people “think” they know it all. How would her evil neighbor be able to pretend to be a hot guy interested in her and then telling her to commit suicide? Not in person, unless her evil neighbor hired some guy, right? Even still, who would do such a cruel thing for money? It just bugs me that people make excuses for everything!

  Actually, I was just on Nexopia and looking around the forums when I saw that a girl was being made fun of. What started it was that she was selling a ring and people called her fat for a size 10. They called her fat and other stuff like she has to sell the ring to pay for an abortion. They even made a separate topic making fun out of her. The moderators tried to clean it up, but these cruel people still made fun out of her. This is a small example of how people take advantage of the Internet, just like the ‘MeatShake’ post.

  Who’s to blame? Well, the people themselves. If you’re old enough to be on the Internet, you should be old enough not to say what you wouldn’t say in public… at least. E-thugging seems quite popular to older people too. I guess it makes someone feel stronger inside to insult other people at random.

  What can be done? Unplug the Internet, but there is still a lot of good on the net and it’s just too bad that there are people out there to ruin a good thing. I’m afraid nothing will change and Megan will be far from a martyr to highlight this problem. She will be forgotten, except from those who truly care and can understand how the Internet can be a real nightmare. People will still post up videos or messages about how it was all Megan’s or her parent’s fault. How about if her evil neighbors just left her alone?

  I think the guy whom had his picture stolen should sue Megan’s evil neighbors for impersonation and sequential damage due to having to live with his image in Megan’s mind up to her death. I can’t believe there are no charges yet, this is truly ridiculous and does nothing.

  As far as the evil neighbor’s mom playing a part… well, it just goes to show that anybody can be mean. If it’s true that they put up a blog to further defile Megan, then they are a lost cause and they truly have no good in their hearts. Maybe the blog was posted by trolls, but the point has been made.

  I guess it’s finally time to teach kids that the world is cruel, since it hasn’t changed. In fact, it’s got worse. Sticks and stones do break bones while words can end lives. I suppose that’s why hate remains so strong, for shame.

• alease davis
  Apr 28, 2008 at 3:09 am

  This young girl obviously suffered from extreme depression.All of us suffered romantic rejection growing up,and yet we went on living.A young girl that age doesnt realize how many other opportunities for love will come in their lifetime,all they can see is NOW.I have bipolar depression,and thought about suicide in junior high when I was being sadistically bullied,day in and day out.It just so evil and SICK that an adult,a mom,could do this to a kid,How sick can you get? Alease d.

• boberto
  May 21, 2008 at 4:44 pm

  thats really sad
  those people who did that
  i hope they are reading this
  POOOOPPOOOOFACEEE!

• rgirl
  Jun 29, 2008 at 9:59 am

  I just came across this article. I know I am late coming in with an opinion, but I wanted to express it.

  Even adults play games with other adults, on Myspace and all over the web. Even grown ups have a hard time telling friend from foe, at least in the beginning. Some people are truly evil and bringing someone else down, putting them in pain, gives them great pleasure.

  Megan’s parents should have monitored her online activites. But usually when parents monitor they are looking for an adult predator, not an adult personating a kid so they can persecute another kid for their own agenda.

  Sadly, this happens all the time.

  Megan sure didn’t deserve this. No one does.

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