Yesterday, Dardenne Prairie’s officials declared online harassment a crime, in a move that was determined by the case of a 13-year-old girl who had committed suicide after receiving a series of cruel messages on the popular social networking web site MySpace.

The Missouri town’s Board of Aldermen unanimously passed an ordinance that outlaws harassment using electronic communication, which includes the paging services and mobile phone text messaging, the social networking web sites and emails. The ones that will be found guilty of online harassment risk up to 90 days in jail and a maxim fine of $500.

Dardenne Prairie’s officials took this decision after they found out about the case of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old little girl that killed herself on October 16, 2006, shortly after she received a series of hurtful messages on MySpace. The girl had been exchanging messages with a 16-year-old boy that called himself Josh Evans for about six weeks before committing suicide.

But some weeks after their daughter’s death, the Meiers found out that Josh Evans never existed. They then accused a neighbor, Lori Drew, her daughter and her employee, Ashley Grills, of creating the fictitious MySpace profile. Despite these accusations, no one has been charged with anything.