Woman Who Created Fictional MySpace Boy Testifies on Motive
The prosecution’s star witness in the cyber-bullying trial of a St. Louis suburban woman told how she created a fictional teenage boy on MySpace who sent insulting messages to a 13-year-old girl who ultimately committed suicide.
The witness, 20-year-old Ashley Grills, worked for the coupon business of Lori Drew, the woman charged with conspiracy and computer hacking, the Daily Journal reports. Megan Meier killed herself after receiving a message from the fictional boy that read: “The world would be a better place without you. Have a shitty rest of your life.” Grills said Drew had OK’d the message.
Grills said Meier’s reply read: “You’re the kind of boy a girl would kill herself over.”
Grills was hospitalized for depression after the incident, the New York Times reports. She testified that she originally created the fictional Josh Evans after Meier had called Drew’s daughter a lesbian. Grills said Drew planned to use information from messages traded with the fictional Evans to get information from Meier that could be used to humiliate her. Drew had also hoped to learn what Meier had been saying about her daughter, Grills said.
But the plans changed, and Josh was used to humiliate Megan, Drew said.
Drew is being prosecuted in Los Angeles by U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien, who contends he has jurisdiction there because MySpace servers are located in the city, the Times story says. The unusual theory in the case contends Drew violated MySpace’s terms of service when she created the fictitious account. As a result, her use of the website amounted to illegal access of protected computers under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
