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Ranchers.net

Mo. lawmakers vote to bar Internet harassment
Bill, a response to teenager's suicide, now goes to the governor

By Chris Blank

updated 5:53 p.m. MT, Fri., May. 16, 2008
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Responding to the suicide of a Missouri teenager who was teased over the Internet, state lawmakers Friday gave final approval to a bill making cyber harassment illegal.

The bill updates state laws against harassment to keep pace with technology by removing the requirement that the communication be written or over the telephone. Supporters say the bill will now cover harassment from computers, text messages and other electronic devices.

Police say the 13-year-old St. Charles County girl hanged herself in 2006 after being teased on a social networking Web site.

A neighborhood mother, her 18-year-old employee and 13-year-old daughter are accused of creating a fake profile of an attractive teenage boy to determine what Meier was saying about the daughter online.

"Without a good, quality cyber stalking and harassment law, which we don't currently have, we have to go to federal courts in other states to make a stretching leap argument," said Rupp, R-Wentzville.

State Sen. Harry Kennedy, D-St. Louis, said the law is "definitely a warning shot for those folks who want to use the Internet for harassment."
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