Woman indicted for alleged role in fatal MySpace hoax

A U.S. District Court jury in Los Angeles on Thursday indicted a woman for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbour who then committed suicide.

Lori Drew of Missouri was charged with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on the girl.

Drew allegedly helped create a MySpace account on false premises and using it to contact Megan Meier, who thought she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans, who turned out not to exist.

Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006 after receiving hostile messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.

Drew has denied creating the account or sending messages to Megan.

MySpace is based in Beverly Hills, Calif. The indictment noted that MySpace computer servers are located in Los Angeles County.

Due to privacy rules designed to protect minors, the indictment only refers to the girl as M.T.M., the U.S. attorney's office said.

Maximum penalty of 5 years in prison

Each count in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Last month, an employee of Drew, 19-year-old Ashley Grills, told ABC's Good Morning America she created the false MySpace profile but Drew wrote some of the messages to Megan.

Grills also alleged Drew suggested talking to Megan via the internet to find out what Megan was saying about Drew's daughter, who was a former friend of Megan.

Grills said she wrote the message to Megan about the world being a better place without her, which was supposed to end the online relationship with "Josh," because Grills felt the joke had gone too far.

"I was trying to get her angry so she would leave him alone, and I could get rid of the whole MySpace," Grills told the morning show.

Megan's death was investigated by Missouri authorities, but no state charges have been filed.