MO- Bully Web Site Lands Missouri Teen in Jail

10-17-2009 Missouri:

Cyber-bullying has become a major issue around the world. Teens across the U.S. and across the pond in Europe find themselves constantly faced with this new form of harassment. But if we had to pick one place as the epicenter of this disturbing new trend it would be Missouri.

The home state of Megan Meier, a girl who committed suicide just before her 14th birthday as a result of being bullied on MySpace, was one of the first to pass anti-cyber-bullying legislation and to expand local harassment laws to cover digital communications. Since the passage of that law, several high-profile cases have come out of the state, including one that involved a 21-year-old woman sending threatening and vulgar text messages to a 17-year-old girl. Now, the state has another cyber-bullying incident garnering national attention. A ninth-grade girl from the town of Troy has been arrested for creating a Web site dedicated to harassing and mocking a fellow student.

The site, which has been taken down, included the victim's name followed by "c**t.com." [Ed. note: Even we won't print that word.] The site featured photos of the target, along with several posts (all made anonymously, of course) disparaging her friends, calling her a slut, and saying she "would be better off if she just died." School district authorities were alarmed by the comments on the site when it was discovered, and quickly involved the local sheriff last Thursday. Lincoln County Sheriff's Department spokesman Lt. Andy Binder told Wired, "The website had very troublesome things posted on it by an individual who obviously had a dislike for the other female in the school."

Investigators were able to track down the creator of the site by talking to other students whose names appeared on it. The girl confessed to creating the page and was sent to a juvenile detention center. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it's not clear whether or not the girl will face any criminal charges, but her school, The Troy Buchanan Ninth Grade Center, has already taken disciplinary measures. Federal law prohibits the disclosure of what the punishment is, but the school does have a strict no-bullying policy. April Huddleston, a spokeswoman for Lincoln County R-III School District, told Wired that possible penalties include expulsion.

Even though such digital torment seems to be growing in popularity, bullies will learn quickly that there is no such thing as true anonymity on the Internet. If you decide to take your harassment online, you will be caught. And, thanks to several high-profile cases, to paraphrase Apple, there's a law for that. ..Source.. by Terrence O'Brien