| A Missouri woman was indicted last week for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13–year–old neighbor who committed suicide. Lori Drew, 49, of suburban St. Louis, who allegedly helped create a MySpace account in the name of someone who didn't exist to convince Megan Meier she was chatting with a 16–year–old boy named Josh Evans, was charged with conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else's computer, the AP reports.
Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006, allegedly after receiving a dozen or more cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her. Salvador Hernandez, assistant agent in charge of the Los Angeles FBI office, called the case heart–rending. "The Internet is a world unto itself. People must know how far they can go before they must stop. They exploited a young girl's weaknesses," Hernandez told AP special correspondent Linda Deutsch. "Whether the defendant could have foreseen the results, she's responsible for her actions."
Drew was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress on the girl. Drew has denied creating the account or sending messages to Megan.
Dean Steward, a lawyer representing Drew in the federal case, said a legal challenge to the charges was being planned. He characterized them as unusual and puzzling. "We thought when prosecutors in St. Louis looked at the case and all the facts, it was clear no criminal acts occurred," Steward told the AP.
Megan's mother, Tina Meier, told the AP that she believed media reports and public outrage helped move the case forward for prosecution. "I'm thrilled that this woman is going to face charges that she has needed to face since the day we found out what was going on, and since the day she decided to be a part of this entire ridiculous stunt," she said.
Meier has acknowledged Megan was too young to have a MySpace account under the website's guidelines, but she said she had been able to closely monitor the account. Meier's family has also acknowledged that Megan was also sending mean messages before her death.
Megan was being treated for attention deficit disorder and depression, her family has said. Meier has said Drew knew Megan was on medication.
MySpace issued a statement saying it "does not tolerate cyberbullying" and was cooperating fully with the U.S. attorney.
The indictment says MySpace members agree to abide by terms of service that include, among other things, not promoting information they know to be false or misleading; soliciting personal information from anyone under age 18 and not using information gathered from the Web site to "harass, abuse or harm other people."
Drew and others who were not named conspired to violate the service terms from about September 2006 to mid–October that year, according to the indictment. It alleges they registered as a MySpace member under a phony name and used the account to obtain information on the girl.
Drew and her coconspirators "used the information obtained over the MySpace computer system to torment, harass, humiliate, and embarrass the juvenile MySpace member," the indictment charged. | 
