A local Missouri town delares online harassment law with up to 90 days in jail and a maximum fine of $500.
By: Ben Thompson
Published: Nov 23, 2007
Updated: Sep 2, 2010
A year after a 13-year-old committed suicide after being bullied online, city officials approved an ordinance making Internet harassment a misdemeanor that carries a $500 fine and 90-day prison term.
The ordinance unanimously passed by the six-member Board of Aldermen made it illegal for an adult to contact a minor in a way that would cause a reasonable parent to fear for the child's safety. Anyone engaging in a pattern of conduct that would cause a reasonable person to suffer "substantial emotional distress" would also be charged with harassment.
{slot15}"Harassment is harassment regardless of the mechanism or tool," Mayor Pam Fogarty told the Associated Press.
Megan Meier hanged herself on October 16, 2006 after receiving cruel messages from a boy she met on the social networking site MySapce. Investigation showed that the boy, named Josh Evans, was an online profile created by the mother of one of Meier's friends. Megan had been duped by someone that was an adult that should've known better and knew about her past problems with depression. Josh Evans never existed.
The four-page ordinance applies when one of the people communicating online is in Dardenne Prairie. Officials also approved a resolution calling on state and federal officials to make harassment and stalking on the Internet illegal.
You can share this Megan Meier news story with your friends or family from our Technology section. This article can be shared through e-mail or sent to online social Web sites including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and others. You can choose from one of the options below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome!