Lori Drew, 49, was indicted on Thursday by a Los Angeles grand jury for her alleged role in an online hoax that led to the suicide of her 13-year-old neighbour Megan Meier of Dardenne Prairie back in 2006.

Lori Drew was accused of creating a fake MySpace identity under the name of “Josh Evans”, a 16 year old boy, making friends and later harassing Megan not long before she committed suicide.


On October 15, 2006, the so-called 16 year-old teenager Josh Evans turned against Megan, sending her negative comments, and ending with a harsh message: “The world would be a better place without you.” According to a police report, Megan later hanged herself in her bedroom closet.


An investigation had been undergoing for over a year now, but prosecutors had not been able to press any charges in Lori Drew’s case, as her role in the hoax did not appear to break any criminal law. However, the prosecutors charged Lori Drew with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization for information used to emotionally distress the girl. For each of the four counts the maximum possible penalty that Lori Drew can receive is of five years in prison.


The woman now faces not only the arm of the law, but also the anger and harassment of neighbors and friends of the 13 year-old teenager, after her address and phone number have been made public on the Internet.