http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29541027/

Mom Loses Daughter Over ‘Sexting,’ Demands Accountability

Indianapolis
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By Reported by: Sheree Paolello
WLWT.com
updated 35 minutes ago

CINCINNATI – More and more teenagers are getting caught “sexting,” or sending racy, revealing or nude pictures of themselves on their cell phones. But when that picture gets in the wrong hands, it can be devastating. One local couple says “sexting” cost them their daughter.

Jessie Logan was 18 years old and about to graduate from Sycamore High School when a nude picture she sent to her boyfriend was sent to hundreds of students at schools around the Tri-State.

Last May, Jessie talked to News 5’s Sheree Paolello about how embarrassed and humiliated she was. She said she was being harassed and teased by other students, at home, at school and when she went out.

Below is an excerpt from the article..

The defendant, Lori Drew, 49, of O’Fallon, Mo., was convicted Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles on misdemeanor charges of accessing computers without authorization. Her lawyer later said he hoped a judge would dismiss the charges against her.

Tina Meier, the mother of Megan Meier, the girl who committed suicide, said she would ask that Ms. Drew be held to the maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $300,000 fine.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A man accused of making unflattering online comments about his former lover and her attorney on Craigslist has been charged with two counts of criminal libel.

“It’s not a charge you see a lot of,” Larimer County District Attorney Larry Abrahamson said of the 1800s-era state law that can put people in jail for the content of their speech or writing.

Abrahamson charged J.P. Weichel, 40, of Loveland, in October over posts he allegedly made on Craigslist’s “Rants and Rave” section.

The case began when a woman told Loveland police in December 2007 about postings made about her between November and December 2007. Court records show posts that suggested she traded sexual acts for legal services from her attorney and mentioned a visit from child services because of an injury to her child.

Police obtained search warrants for records from Web sites including Craigslist before identifying Weichel as the suspect. Weichel shares a child with the woman.

Weichel, confronted by detectives at his workplace in August, said he was “just venting,” according to court records.

No phone listing could be found for Weichel, and his attorney, Michael Liggett of Fort Collins, didn’t immediately return a message left Monday by The Associated Press.

Libel is commonly seen as a civil case. Denver attorney Steve Zansberg, who specializes in First Amendment law, said prosecutors seeking criminal libel cases could have a “chilling” effect on free speech in Colorado, particularly over the Internet.

Abrahamson wasn’t so sure. He said it is up to police departments to pursue cases.

Zansberg contends the law is outdated, is unclear about stating opinions and is written in such a way that dead people could be victims of criminal libel.

The statute allows prosecution for speech “tending to blacken the memory of one who is dead” or to “expose the natural defects of one who is alive, and thereby to expose him to public hatred, contempt or ridicule.” Criminal libel carries a punishment of up to 18 months in prison.

 “After a few weeks of chatting, “Josh Evans” began to send Megan nasty messages, via the MySpace account, ending with one that suggested “the world would be a better place” without her. Megan, believing she had been rejected by “Josh,” committed suicide in her home. “

 I’m interested to see how this will end up.