Missouri vs. Cyberbullying
Missouri has it’s own travesties associated with cyberbullying. As I am sure you know, it is the home of the Meier/Drew MySpace Hoax/Suicide case. It’s been the center of the cyberbullying issues, used as a frequent example in any story you read. In many ways, it’s the epicenter of law on the issue as well.
Shortly after the incident, the state enacted a cyberbullying law… and now the hunt is on for bullies.
As much as I am glad to see a-holes get their due, there is no denying that it is a sad state (of affairs) we live in when we have to enact laws to reprimand kids because their parents can’t do their most basic, primary parenting job: teaching their kids how to play nice with others.
Cyberbullying is obviously an issue that can be helped with computer monitoring software like our PC Pandora. If a parent has PC Pandora on their computer, they will be able to see if their child is being bullied – and have a record of all of it. OR, if the parent has a bully at home, monitoring software will let you know. But, unfortunately, that is as far as we can take it… after that, the bully’s parents have to care enough to act.
For the next couple of days we are still giving PC Pandora away for free! Go to our order page and use the coupon PCPANDORAGIFT to get a free copy!
Missouri begins prosecuting under cyberbullying law
By Betsy Taylor, Associated PressST. LOUIS — Missouri prosecutors are bringing charges under a revised harassment law spurred by the suicide of a 13-year-old girl following cruel messages on the Internet.
The 2006 death of Megan Meier of St. Charles County prompted Missouri lawmakers to update state harassment law earlier this year so that it now covers bullying and stalking done through electronic media, such as e-mails or text messages.
A handful of cases related to electronic communication have been filed statewide since the law took effect Aug. 28. Prosecutors do not track harassment cases based on the type of communication method used, so could not provide an exact count in recent days of how many people have been charged because of the new provisions.
In one of the new cases, 21-year-old Nicole Williams is accused of harassing a 17-year-old girl in a dispute over a boy using electronic communication. Williams is scheduled for arraignment on one count of harassment on Jan. 8.
She allegedly sent a vulgar text message to the cell phone of a 17-year-old she had not previously met because she heard the girl had a physical encounter with her boyfriend. The two had just been talking, police said.
The 17-year-old girl received voice messages with lewd and threatening comments, including some that called her by the name “pork and beans” and threatened rape. Williams told police others sent those messages from her phone, according to a probable cause statement.
St. Peters police spokeswoman Melissa Doss said Friday that the 17-year-old had eggs, thumbtacks and a can of baked beans thrown on her car. Williams has not been linked with or charged with those offenses, she noted.
The case was filed in November and is the first involving text messages in St. Charles County, the county where Meier resided, since the new law went into effect.
Defense attorney Michael Kielty, who represents Williams, was critical of the revised law on electronic harassment. He called the Meier case tragic, but said lawmakers had engaged in a knee-jerk reaction to try to address the high-profile case.
In a landmark cyber-bullying trial, Lori Drew, 49, of O’Fallon, Mo., was convicted in Los Angeles on misdemeanor federal charges of accessing computers without authorization last month.
Prosecutors said Drew and two others created a fictitious teenage boy on MySpace and sent flirtatious messages from him to neighbor Megan Meier, 13. The “boy” dumped Megan in 2006, telling her: “The world would be a better place without you.” Megan hanged herself. Drew has not yet been sentenced.
The trial in California came after Missouri prosecutors said they couldn’t find state statutes that allowed them to file charges.
