MO- St. Peters woman accused of cyber bullying

This is a rather unusual case. Under the Adam Walsh Act, the girl being 17 is a minor, and sending porn to a minor would make this person a sex offender? This may also fall under what we consider vigilantism, not sure yet. Any thoughts are welcomed..

8-18-2009 Missouri:

ST. CHARLES COUNTY — A St. Peters woman sought to humiliate a St. Charles County teenager by posting the girl's picture and cell phone number in a sexually suggestive online forum on Craigslist, prosecutors said Monday.

Elizabeth A. Thrasher, 40, is accused of posting the listing after an online confrontation with the 17-year-old daughter of a woman Thrasher's ex-husband was dating.

Authorities say the case is the first felony harassment charge filed in St. Charles County under a new state law drafted in response to the suicide of Dardenne Prairie teenager Megan Meier. Misdemeanor charges have been filed in other local cases.

St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said Thrasher and the teen's mother were bickering. The teen sent a MySpace message to Thrasher, telling her to grow up.

Thrasher, of the 1300 block of Farm Valley Drive, then created a listing on Craigslist's Casual Encounters section, investigators said. The listing included the teen's picture, employer, e-mail address and cell phone number. Banas said the posting's language would lead people to believe it was an invitation to sexual contact.

Investigators said men called the girl and sent e-mails, text messages and pornography to her cell phone after Thrasher posted the listing.

Mike Kielty, Thrasher's lawyer, said he wasn't sure prosecutors could meet the elements of the charge. He said the statute itself was poorly written.

"To charge a woman, a mother, with a felony for what is tantamount to a practical joke, that's awfully rash," he said. "That's taking it to the extreme."

Thrasher has two children. Her ex-husband and the mother of the teen could not be reached for comment.

The first page of the Casual Encounters section warns that its pages may include adult content. It also links to information about safe sex and a way to report suspected exploitation of minors.

The Meier cyber-bullying case received international attention after Lori Drew, an adult neighbor of Meier's, was linked to a fake MySpace account blamed in her death.

Drew eventually was charged with four federal misdemeanors. A jury found her guilty of three, but a judge overturned the verdicts, saying he will acquit her. He has not made the decision official by putting it in writing.

Banas said the case filed Monday afternoon surprised him because of the widespread coverage given to the Meier case.

"I would just question the wisdom of somebody who would get involved in this type of behavior after the information that has been disseminated rather voluminously," he said.

Missouri's harassment law, which took effect last August, covers threats or communication that cause emotional distress, including electronic messaging on computers, text messaging and e-mail. Statewide, felony charges have been filed in other cases since the new cyber-harassment law was enacted. In the Meier case, Banas said no state law applied at the time. ..Source.. by Shane Anthony, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH