Woman Charged Under ‘MySpace Suicide’ Law – Crazy What are People Thinking?

By Social Editors • on August 23, 2009

Courthouse News Services – ST. CHARLES, Mo.

A woman has become the first person charged under a new harassment law written in response to the MySpace suicide case. Police say Elizabeth A. Thrasher, 40, posted a fake, sexually suggestive ad under the “casual encounters” section of Craigslist in an attempt to humiliate a 17-year-old girl.

Thrasher, of St. Peters, is charged with felony harassment in a case with echoes of the nationally publicized case that happened just down the road.

Police say Thrasher posted the teen’s picture and the girl’s place of employment, e-mail address and cell phone number.

Prosecutors say the ad was in retaliation for a message the girl sent to Thrasher regarding Thrasher’s deteriorating relationship with the girl’s mother.
Missouri’s cyber-harassment law came in response to the MySpace suicide case, which happened just miles from where Thrasher lives.

In that case, 13-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself after receiving hurtful messages from a fake MySpace account. The case received national headlines after an adult neighbor, Lori Drew, was accused of being linked to the fake account.

A Los Angeles federal jury found Drew guilty of four misdemeanors, but a judge acquitted her.

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