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In what is possibly the most publicized case of cyber-bullying, a young 13 year old girl named Megan Meier, with a pre-existing problem with depression was contacted on Myspace by a young man named Josh Evans, or so she thought.

Josh Evans and Megan became close over the course of the next month before Evans cut Megan off, ending their friendship.

On October 16, 2006 Megan's mother found her daughter's body hanging in her closet. The young girl had committed suicide. Sources claim that after around a month of corresponding with "Josh Evans", the person controlling the profile ended the friendship stating that he didn't want to continue the relationship because he had heard that she mistreats her friends. The message was followed by this individual posting bulletins referring to the girl as "fat" and a "slut".

The pain was just too much for Megan, who was already on medication before she met Josh. She was going through an awkward phase as most teens do. Self conscious about her braces and her looks, this person materialized at a point in her life where she was most vulnerable.

Megan's parents have since separated and initiated divorce proceedings, as most parents do after the tragic death of a child. The person behind Josh Evans destroyed an entire family and pushed a beautiful young girl over the edge, causing her to commit suicide.

Six weeks after Megan's death, Tina Meier learned that Joshua Evans never even existed. The profile had been created by Lori Drew, the middle-aged mother of one of Megan's former best friends in a bid for e-vengeance for what the mother saw as mistreatment her daughter received at the hands of Megan. Even more disturbing for the parties involved is the fact that Mrs. Drew had ties to the family - they had even stored a table for her in their garage.

Almost two years after Megan's tragic suicide Lori Drew was indicted by federal prosecutors on May 15, 2008, for several counts of "accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress," according to a press release.

Mrs Drew was charged with criminally accessing myspace in violation of their terms of use but some still question whether the mother should be prosecuted. Her actions were despicable, exploiting the vulnerability of a young girl who was in a rough patch but did Drew intend to cause the young girl to commit suicide?

Cyber bullying is rampant and it is certainly unethical, but prosecuting cyber bullies will do nothing more than waste taxpayer dollars on investigating, prosecuting, and housing people who aren't dangerous in our already-crowded prisons. Wherever we go, there will always be bullying. It isn't acceptable at all but there are so many criminals on the loose that it is necessary to prioritize.

In cases where victims are tormented to the extent that suicides occur then yes, there should certainly be a legal consequence but the fact is, most people do not react with suicide unless they are predisposed to it. The internet is so vast. There are hundreds of millions of people online across the globe, many of whom are not in our government's jurisdiction. The simple fact is that taking that into account and systems like the onion router network, software that individuals can use to route internet connections through hundreds of computers in multiple countries thus ensuring anonymity, cyber-bullying simply cannot be controlled any more then the schoolyard bullies that still exist today, tormenting the new generation.

Learn more about this author, Joshua Mccracken.
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