ST PETERS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
Elizabeth Trasher, 40, of the 1300 block of Farm Valley Drive in St. Peters was jailed Wednesday under what's been called "Megan's Law" in Missouri: the state's cyber-bullying law passed after the death of St. Charles County teenager, Megan Meier, 13. Thrasher allegedly used the internet to sexually torment a 17 year old girl. St. Charles County Prosecutor, Jack Banas, said Thrasher posted an ad on the internet website, Craigslist; that ad led men to contact the 17 year old, looking for sex; the en sending the victim lewd messages, nude photos.
Thrasher's became the first in the county to be charged with a felony for the cyber-harassment of a someone 17 or younger.
She pushed a Fox 2 camera as she walked out of the St. Charles County jail, after posting bail. She said nothing. Under the new law, she could end up going back for up to five years, if convicted of the Class D felony.
Banas said Thrasher posted a phony "personals" ad on Craigslist in the "casual encounters" section, using the name, photo, e-mail address and phone number of the victim. The girl is the daughter of a woman Thrasher's ex-husband was dating, Banas said. He said the ad was sexually suggestive.
"In such a way that suggests that the person creating that would want some type of sexual encounter with people on there...they [men] were sending her rather lewd messages and rather lewd photographs," Banas said.
Thrasher's attorney, Michael Kielty, said the case was baseless.
"The facts are going to show there was not a crime here," he said. "You look at the document. It doesn't even show my client made contact with the alleged victim so I don't know how they're going to make the case."
He said the new law was constitutionally doomed.
"...a very poorly crafted statute: it criminalizes behavior that but for the use of the internet and a computer wouldn't be criminal, certainly not a felony," Kielty said.
"Does she [Thrasher] have anything to say about this, obviously she doesn't want to talk to us ?" asked Fox 2 reporter, Andy Banker.
"Right now she's innocent. If the case were tried today, it'd be a 'not guilty'," Kielty said before walking away from the camera.
It's the first such case in St. Charles County under the new cyber-bullying laws created after Meier's death. Meier was the St. Charles County teen who committed suicide after receiving hurtful messages from a fictitious boyfriend via the MySpace social networking website.
"I think it takes a lot of courage for a 17 year old to stand up for what is right," Meier's mother, Tina, said.
She's fought for tougher anti-bullying laws since her daughter's death.
"I think this should start showing the other kids, the other teens who are getting harassed and getting threatened to start saying, 'you know what, we should stand up just like she is'," Tina Meier said.
She said the circumstances of the Trasher case were much different than those of her daughter's. She said the mindset that created them was the same.
"I think it's very scary ... they think, 'you know what we're not going to be held responsible, big deal, it's a joke. How are we going to be held liable?' Now that this law's in place, they can be held liable and they absolutely should," Meier said.
"Someone who does something like this in the face of what took place, I just question what these people were thinking, the audacity of them, I guess, is what it is," Banas said.
Lori Drew, Megan Meier's former adult neighbor, has been accused helping "make up" the MySpace boyfriend to torment the girl. She was never charged in St. Charles County because there was no law on the books.
A California jury found drew guilty of four federal misdemeanors in the case; though a judge has said he's going to throw out the verdicts.
Thrasher's became the first in the county to be charged with a felony for the cyber-harassment of a someone 17 or younger.
She pushed a Fox 2 camera as she walked out of the St. Charles County jail, after posting bail. She said nothing. Under the new law, she could end up going back for up to five years, if convicted of the Class D felony.
Banas said Thrasher posted a phony "personals" ad on Craigslist in the "casual encounters" section, using the name, photo, e-mail address and phone number of the victim. The girl is the daughter of a woman Thrasher's ex-husband was dating, Banas said. He said the ad was sexually suggestive.
"In such a way that suggests that the person creating that would want some type of sexual encounter with people on there...they [men] were sending her rather lewd messages and rather lewd photographs," Banas said.
Thrasher's attorney, Michael Kielty, said the case was baseless.
"The facts are going to show there was not a crime here," he said. "You look at the document. It doesn't even show my client made contact with the alleged victim so I don't know how they're going to make the case."
He said the new law was constitutionally doomed.
"...a very poorly crafted statute: it criminalizes behavior that but for the use of the internet and a computer wouldn't be criminal, certainly not a felony," Kielty said.
"Does she [Thrasher] have anything to say about this, obviously she doesn't want to talk to us ?" asked Fox 2 reporter, Andy Banker.
"Right now she's innocent. If the case were tried today, it'd be a 'not guilty'," Kielty said before walking away from the camera.
It's the first such case in St. Charles County under the new cyber-bullying laws created after Meier's death. Meier was the St. Charles County teen who committed suicide after receiving hurtful messages from a fictitious boyfriend via the MySpace social networking website.
"I think it takes a lot of courage for a 17 year old to stand up for what is right," Meier's mother, Tina, said.
She's fought for tougher anti-bullying laws since her daughter's death.
"I think this should start showing the other kids, the other teens who are getting harassed and getting threatened to start saying, 'you know what, we should stand up just like she is'," Tina Meier said.
She said the circumstances of the Trasher case were much different than those of her daughter's. She said the mindset that created them was the same.
"I think it's very scary ... they think, 'you know what we're not going to be held responsible, big deal, it's a joke. How are we going to be held liable?' Now that this law's in place, they can be held liable and they absolutely should," Meier said.
"Someone who does something like this in the face of what took place, I just question what these people were thinking, the audacity of them, I guess, is what it is," Banas said.
Lori Drew, Megan Meier's former adult neighbor, has been accused helping "make up" the MySpace boyfriend to torment the girl. She was never charged in St. Charles County because there was no law on the books.
A California jury found drew guilty of four federal misdemeanors in the case; though a judge has said he's going to throw out the verdicts.
