<![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted - Gawker Comments]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> This is a very good example of why computers should never be put in a child's room. If they're in the lounge or family room, a parent can monitor its use and turn the fucking thing off if there's anything unsavory going on.

mz_wysiwyg

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @hummingpenguin: the current charges are civil as they are TOS violations. Criminal charges could be brought up if she was (knowingly - clearly) sexually harassing a minor.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley...: Sure, but it was closer to "fuck off" than an adult helping to manipulate the head of an known depressed teen. Or, at least it should have been. Call her a bitch, ignore her, tell people lies about her - anything but stretching this depressed girl's fragile emotions taut and snipping them with scissors. It's just evil.

CaptainFantastic

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> And what a lovely photo of her standing in front of "RESTAURANT" - her eyes are wild, as if caught in the act.

aeries444

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Her punishment should involve reading blogs of tweens gushing about Miley Cyrus..

Pithmaster

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Lamburger Helper: See my comment above: @valet_of_the_dolls:

We're talking about someone manipulative and dishonest enough to have come up with this twisted little scheme; who's to say that she hasn't manipulated her helpers into taking the rap for things they didn't actually do in order to spare her?

valet_of_the_dolls

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @backseat_driver10023: I'm not blaming the victim, it's the media that's blaming Lori Drew 100%. If the girl was already emotionally wrecked AND I heard she was on antidepressants, then why should she be going to jail as a murder. It was nothing more than Harassment in the wrong situation. I'm not saying Lori Drew is a nice and happy person, I'm saying she's not a devil and just a dumbass in a stupid situation that unfortunately ended with a death. Also what about Ashley Grills an employee of Lori Drew's company, "Grills, appearing on Good Morning America on Tuesday, has admitted to sending the final message that led to Megan's suicide, which told Megan the world would be better off without her."

One of the harshest messages would have had to be the breaking point, ironically, not coming from Lori Drew.

+

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @richardmarxhatesmyhair: is this a criminal indictment or a civil indictment? The charge was intentional infliction of emotional distress, which I thought was a civil matter.

Something needs to happen to Lori Drew. She is a murderer. By proxy, perhaps, but a murderer just the same.

hummingpenguin

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @misssgolightly: (that I know of) one count of sexual misconduct...I know nothing about the Mo. legal system, but I bet it would put her behind bars for at least 6 months.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @mockingbird: Agreed. I think a civil trial would find her guilty of wrongdoing, which is clearly not the same a her piece of shit self being thrown in prison, but at least it would cost her and her family some form of emotional anguish.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Ok...you guys are right. I didn't know the particulars that Drew was aware of this girl's depression.

That's positively evil. Kind of nauseating actually. She gets my Twisted Fuck of the Week.

crooked_teeth

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @transomist: Actually, I think it was both parents. And you left out that the Drews called the cops on them for doing it, so Megan's dad now has a record. It was clear in the cop's report how disgusted with her they were.

@crooked_teeth: No one told her to kill herself. Megan had been treated for depression for years and had discussed committing suicide before, and Lori Drew knew that as their families vacationed together. She knowingly went after a fragile child with known history of depression and suicidal intent, and never showed a damn bit of remorse when Megan killed herself because of her attacks. A DA might not be able to indict her on murder, but some kind of reckless endangerment type charge could stick.

mockingbird

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @cassandra:

@crooked_teeth:

I think the real crux of the matter is that you have a grown woman emotionally manipulating a teenaged girl. That's really different when cyberbullying happens between peers.

If I remember correctly, this woman also knew that the girl has a history of depression.

Look, I agree that the application of the law is shaky but something really needs to happen to this lady. Seriously.

cinema13

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> DISCLAIMER: Not hurting kids.

wildhare

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> And to think she did this at HOME and not at work like the rest of us!

wildhare

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @richardmarxhatesmyhair: Not to mention she allegedly knew Megan suffered from depression.
She also, as "Josh" told Megan to "touch my snake."
[www.thesmokinggun.com]

Fucked up.

misssgolightly

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @crooked_teeth: She is an ADULT. She went out of her way, repeatedly to taunt and antagonize a CHILD. You don' t think this girl was already being told she was ugly at school? Save it for Springer, C_T.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @richardmarxhatesmyhair: What if a real life boy tells a teen/preteen girl she's ugly and she needs to kill herself, which she proceeds to do. Are you going to prosecute the boy?? Throw away the key. He is a killer, right? Technically.

crooked_teeth

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> What a piece of shit this lady is. It's hard to imagine having or making the time to do something as horrendous as taunting a preteen girl to death...online. Put her in prison. Throw away the key. She's a killer.

richardmarxhatesmyhair

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @maevemealone: it was, I long for the days where I could daydream, "man, I wish he was dead" and it could be one of the many possibilities. Now myspace insists I know what city he lives in, how much he makes, how blonde is new girlfriend is, and what song he is currently listening too. Damned internets.

@CaptainFantastic: I don't know where you matriculated as a youngster because when I was 13 retaliating was never as simple as go fuck off.

SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> A myspace profile -- a "person" she has never met in three dimensions, in living, breathing reality -- tells her to kill herself.

Yeah, I don't know what to do for ya'.

crooked_teeth

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley...: You see that's all I use it for! And yes, some of them are bigger but ALL are a lot uglier. Ok that part is redeeming. It just used to be so much easier when you had no idea what/who your ex's were doing.

maevemealone

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Shariahpants: Never!! Our EIC is above the law......sort of.....I hope.....

sassypants

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @CaptainFantastic: @Tammany_Fall: I'm thrilled to know our own home-grown executioner could be dispatched to whack (as it were) other non-Gawker entities. Warms the spot where my heart should be.

Agreed re: bundt cakes. I make the most delightful ones. But for serious negotiations, I always lead with my peanut butter cookies. I could have freed Nelson Mandela with a batch of those.

sassypants

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Lamburger Helper: Blame the victim? What's the matter with you?

backseat_driver10023

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @maevemealone: Well it is fairly obvious that the redeeming quality of myspace is to stalk exboyfriends and see if their new girlfriends are a dress size bigger than you.

SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley...: ...her daughter was being taunted by the girl that has since took her life, and the mom suggested that she make the account to screw with her. Damn, I may tell my kid to do the same.. standing up for yourself and such.

That is not standing up for yourself. Standing up for yourself would have been the daughter telling the (now dead) girl to fuck off, not psychologically torturing her.

CaptainFantastic

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> They took down Al Capone on tax charges, and they are taking this woman down with TOS violations. I don't see this womans actions being very different from the adults who serve kids alcohol who then go and wrap their car around a tree. Adults should know better than kids. This woman put the tools in the kids hands. As for Myspace, I have yet to find any redeeming qualities to it except for checking out a new band. I've seen it bring massive jealousy and insecurity to otherwise sane balanced people when it comes to dating and relationships. Comments are easily misconstrued, flirting becomes cheating and how many times do I see people putting their email and phone numbers in comments on public pages?! I can't explain more how much I hate Myspace.

maevemealone

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Lamburger Helper: Of course the child who hanged herself must have had other serious emotional issues, but this triggered her suicide. In general, the law says you take your victims as you find them. What she did is similar to pulling a gun on someone with a serious heart condition who then keels over and dies.

PandoraSpocks

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley...: Or she's been coached to lie about who did what because she won't face the jail time an adult would.

Pure conjecture on my part, but given the parties involved, not much of a stretch, I think.

valet_of_the_dolls

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Lamburger Helper: Adolescence is rough for many teens. And some people are more fragile than others. Way harsh...

cynicchick

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Lamburger Helper: I agree. Honestly, imagine if Julia Allison killed herself every time a Gawker commenter told her to just die. She'd be dead. A lot.

We're all part of the same hypocrisy here.

crooked_teeth

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> An adult.
Had this idea.
To harass a child.
And got others to do her dirty work.
Get her ass.

PandoraSpocks

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> The problem is not Lori Drew but rather why would a girl that was emotionally played with by a stranger kill herself.

+

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @valarmorghulis: Yeah, see I read that too. That her daughter was being taunted by the girl that has since took her life, and the mom suggested that she make the account to screw with her. Damn, I may tell my kid to do the same.. standing up for yourself and such.

Direct quote from an AP article- "Last month, an employee of Drew, 19-year-old Ashley Grills, told ABC's "Good Morning America" she created the false MySpace profile but Drew wrote some of the messages to Megan.

Grills said Drew suggested talking to Megan via the Internet to find out what Megan was saying about Drew's daughter, who was a former friend.

Grills also said she wrote the message to Megan about the world being a better place without her. The message was supposed to end the online relationship with "Josh" because Grills felt the joke had gone too far.

"I was trying to get her angry so she would leave him alone and I could get rid of the whole MySpace," Grills told the morning show."

Not really sure how I feel about all this. Obviously it was immature of the woman to be involved. But now her life is ruined and I don't know if it is warranted, espeicially if this other gal did all/most of the dirty work. Is she not being charged because she was 17 when it all went down?

SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @sassypants: I don't know if PWH is an assassin; I do know that he's a loner and a rebel.
But agreed that Bundt cakes succeed where all other forms of diplomacy fail. Why the U.N. hasn't tried this is beyond me.

Tammany_Fall

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> I read her blog last year; it was like reading the justifications of a 14 year old. Perhaps she is one of the people who have no real conscience...

MissVolare

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Should the punishment fit the crime, we have a public execution to look forward to, folks

cynicchick

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @sassypants: Wonderful to enjoy this, I agree. I worry, though, will our esteemed editor-in-chief be persecuted now???

Shariahpants

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @it takes a train to cry: the reason that tact has been taken is because she didn't actually do anything other than be aware of what was going on. the people operating the account were two other neighbor kids that did work for her. don't get me wrong, i think she rightly deserves to be made a pariah. i don't agree with the prosecutorial path that has been chosen for the reasons you state. the TOS have never been recognized as a legal contract, nor should they. they should hold a place right about the same as Code of the Order of the Brethren.

valarmorghulis

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> To a normal person, the burden and guilt that she must live with might be her own personal hell. But then again a normal person would not have gone on line to pose as a teenager's boyfriend only to back stab her into her suicidal death.

spanktastic

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @sassypants: I'm pretty sure Ketch said that he takes bribes, etc.

CaptainFantastic

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Reading stories like this just strengthens my hypothesis that this internet thing is never really going to catch on.

GeorgeBabbitt

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @it takes a train to cry: You may be correct, that it will be thrown out quickly, but it will not only make it clear to internet bullies that they need not worry about prosecution, it will also make it clear to state/federal legislatures that they need to "get to law-makin'" (as they say in Missoura).

CaptainFantastic

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Tammany_Fall: Don't you go getting my hopes up that Pee Wee Herman is an assassin.

Not sure if Ketch is for hire. I don't know if he's ever been asked. But perhaps if we said "Please" and sent him a lovely bundt cake......

sassypants

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @sassypants: You mean Ketch is for hire? I thought he acted alone. You know, like Lee Harvey Oswald. Or Pee Wee Herman.

Tammany_Fall

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Speaking as someone who spent over a year being cyber-stalked by someone using multiple fake personalities, and not being able to get any law enforcement help, I'm glad to see this indictment.

GothamTomato

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @it takes a train to cry: And by "abuse of prosecutorial power," you mean, "actually punishing the people responsible," right? Yeah, it's a loophole. But it's a good one to punish this stupid, evil cow for intentionally fucking with the mind of a suicidal pre-teen.

cassandra

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> I think an appropriate punishment would be to force her to go back to junior high. Forever.

crookedE

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Ed:

Yup, which the victim's mother smashed into a thousand pieces on Drew's front lawn as retribution. I admire her restraint.

transomist

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Yuck- come on, we have all acted egregiously on the internet, but this is startling. Sure I have writtena few emails regarding complicated relationships virtual based (either from the get go, or in its current emanation), but it has always been deserved/warranted/justified by me/myself/my online avatar. I don't know how this is going to pan out, but it is such an extreme rarity. It's like if John Fitzgerald Page Whatevs or Matt Sanchez offed themselves in reaction to our online warfare. Anywho, makes you think:(

Kublai Yawn

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> The charge is that she committed fraud in using MySpace services because she did not comply with the MySpace terms of services, which required her to provide her real personal information in the registration. Basically, we are criminals now, because we all have (or could be accused of having) violated just about every website's terms of service. The TOS is usually understood as a means for the website to limit its liability and not as an actual code of conduct. For example, here's part of Gawker's TOS:

In order to make our comments useful and interesting, the following guidelines have been established for comment users:

Do not post threatening, harassing, defamatory, or libelous material.
Do not intentionally make false or misleading statements.
Do not offer to sell or buy any product or service.
Do not post material that infringes copyright.
Do not post information that you know to be confidential or sensitive or otherwise in breach of the law.
Keep all comments relevant to the particular GM Site where the comment is being posted.

I'm sure a prosecutor who wanted to harass we commenters could cook up an indictment pretty easily.

The indictment has nothing to do with the wrong she did, it's just an abuse of prosecutorial power, punishing her by harassing her with legal proceedings that will go absolutely nowhere - she will never be convicted of anything, and I wouldn't be surprised if the indictment just gets thrown out by the first judge to read it. If anything, it will make it clear to other internet bullies that they don't have to worry about prosecution. And that's how it should be.

it takes a lot to laugh

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @Hiphopopotamus: Trust me, Missouri is right on the heels of Texas as far as backwardness is concerned, so I don't think you'll be disappointed.

AuntPeniston

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> @famousauthor: I've already reverted to print as my vector for pornography.

Sarcastro

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> I agree that the internet has probably run its course and should now be shut down. It was fun for a while, but now we are learning its negative side. Let's pick a date to end it, and then wait for the next new thing to come along.

famousauthor

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> That's awesome. Totally made my Friday morning. Now all I need to see is an appearance of Mr. Ketch (not at my door! Someone else's!) and my weekend will begin! Now that I think about it, any possibility of sending Mr. Ketch to dispatch of this woman???

sassypants

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Lori Drew: may your life, going forward, in whatever setting it may take place, be a singular type of fiery Hell reserved and custom-fitted just for you.

In Other News...

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> Can these laws also be used to prosecute other internet, um, personalities?

Private Hangnail

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> In the New Yorker article, there was that little tidbit that still fascinates me. Drew was part (or mastermind) of the scheme to torture the girl, yet she also had that same family store a foosball table that Drew intended to give her kids as a holiday gift.

That's just nervy.

Ed

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> I haven't been so upset about a grown adult woman posing as a teenaged boy since I saw Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan. What... it was confusing...

I hope they throw the book at this lady and the three or four other complicit parties in this nasty middle American Shakespearean update.

jackvinyl

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> She's also a pariah to her entire community now. That's karma, Lori.

pureblarney

]]> <![CDATA[Lori Drew, the Biggest Myspace Cyberbully, Gets Indicted]]> I hope they try her in Texas. If spitting gets you 35 years, well...

Hiphopopotamus

]]>