Lori Drew, the 49 year old woman being held responsible for the suicide of a 13 year old girl, Megan Meier’s, has been indicted today on three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress and one count of criminal conspiracy.

Megan Meiers

Lori is charged with setting up a fake MySpace account, pretending to be a boy (Josh Evans) and harassing the 13 year old as a “joke.” Megan and “Josh” began flirting back and forth over the Social Network, but after a short time the messages became more hostile. Unfortunately, as it turns out Megan suffered from depression and the joke turned sour when “Josh” told Megan that the world would be better off without her. Later that same day, Megan took her own life.

Lori claims that Megan had a falling out with her daughter, and that this entire episode was an attempt to figure out what Megan really thought of her.

This case sets a huge precedent. The crime took place entirely over a Social Network, and the criminal act itself amounted to “profile fraud.” Depending on how this case proceeds, it could cause a monumental shift in the way “Cyber Bullying” crimes are prosecuted in the future.

Lori is being charged in Los Angeles, where MySpace’s servers are housed. This federal charge comes after she was found not culpable in her hometown of Missouri. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

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