Parents Want Jail Time for MySpace Hoax Mom

Nov. 29, 2007 — -- The family of Megan Meier, the 13-year-old girl who took her own life after being bullied on MySpace, is demanding justice and jail time for the adult involved in the bullying.

Lori Drew, the Meiers' 48-year-old neighbor in suburban St. Louis, admitted in a police report that she created a fictitious MySpace account and pretended to be a boy with a romantic interest in Megan. According to the police report, Drew created the profile to find out what Megan was saying online about her teenage daughter.

Megan hanged herself in her closet in October 2006. When police eventually decided that Drew had committed no crime, Megan's parents, who had remained silent about the case until that point, spoke out.

"You cannot as an adult sit there and do that and hide behind a computer. It is a criminal act. We want to see her go to jail," said Tina Meier, Megan's mother.

In an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America," the neighbor who first tipped off police about Drew's involvement says that Drew confessed to her that she had played a hoax on Megan.

"She did sit here in my living room and confess everything to me. She told me that they had pulled an image of a boy off the Internet and that they had created an account using the name of Josh Evans, and she said she knew the last message that left her house that Monday when Megan attempted her life was that, 'The world would be a better place without you,'" said the neighbor, who asked that her identity not be revealed.

Now others are calling for justice in the case. Prosecutors say they are reviewing the case to determine whether anyone will be charged with a crime.

Last week the board of aldermen in the Meiers' hometown, Dardenne Prairie, Mo., passed a law making Internet bullying a misdemeanor in the town.

"It's time that we do something against this. On all levels, the state and federal level," Dardenne Prairie Mayor Pam Fogarty said.

Megan sometimes suffered from low self-esteem and was on medication at the time of her death.

"That is what makes it even more disgusting, that she knew the circumstances around our daughter and still played on it," said Megan's father, Ron Meier.

But Megan's family said she looked forward to her 14th birthday and having her braces removed.

When a cute boy befriended Megan on the social networking site MySpace, the two formed a quick connection during their more-than-monthlong relationship.

"She got this e-mail from this boy named 'Josh Evans,'" Tina Meier said.

Josh claimed to be a 16-year-old boy who lived nearby and was home-schooled. But what began as a promising online friendship soon turned sour, as compliments turned to insults.