Bluemerle

If it weren't for the meddling with *MYSPACE*.

Although Missouri authorities declined to file charges against Drew for her participation/ approbation of a scheme to fool a child into revealing confidences to a Trojan Boy (a false internet persona created exclusively to reel her in and gain her confidence), Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have charged her with illegal misuse of the protected computers of the California-based Myspace company.

Despite protestations of Lori Drew's (latest) attorney, Los Angeles-based federal prosecutors do have jurisdictional standing to bring charges, because the crimes charged are actually crimes against the Beverly Hills-based Myspace, and through it one of its clients.

Scott Glover, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer reports:

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles today indicted a woman of fraudulently using a MySpace.com account to "cyber-bully" a Missouri teenager who later hanged herself because she believed she was being rejected by a 16-year-old boy she met on the social networking website.

Lori Drew, 49, of O'Fallon, Mo., faces three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on the girl and one count of conspiracy. ..

Drew's attorney, H. Dean Steward, said he plans to wage a vigorous defense, suggesting that prosecutors in Los Angeles were overstepping their jurisdiction.

"There are a lot of issues we are going to need to raise, including why it's happening in Los Angeles," Steward said. "It seems like a Missouri case no matter how you cut it."

From ABC news:

"This adult woman allegedly used the Internet to target a young teenage girl, with horrendous ramifications," said U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien in a written statement.
"After a thorough investigation, we have charged Ms. Drew with criminally accessing MySpace and violating rules established to protect young, vulnerable people."

Labels: indictment, Lori Drew, Los Angeles, Megan Meier, Myspace