Nine Massachusetts students are facing charges in the suicide of Phoebe Prince. New York criminal defense attorneys are taking note, as the Massachusettes teens are preparing for a host of charges related to the suicide, ranging from statutory rape to criminal harassment and stalking. Indeed, bullying is not just a Massachusetts problem-- it's a huge problem in New York, as well. A 17 year old West Islip teen was found dead on March 21, and police are investigating the harrassing messages she received, prior to her death.
Unfortunately for the Massachusetts teen, Phoebe Prince, the charges come too late. Prince committed suicide on January 14, when she walked into her apartment building and hung herself in a stairwell leading up to her second floor apartment.
And even in death, she was tormented. Her haters wrote nasty comments on her Facebook memorial page.
Prince was the new kid on the block, having recently come to Massachusetts from Ireland. The bullying took the form of cyberbullying as well as physical harassment. Posts on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook called Phoebe an "Irish slut". Her face was scribbled out of photographs on the school wall and she regularly received threatening messages on her cell phone.
The reason for the bullying and brutality? Prince had apparently dated a popular football player during her first few weeks at the school. As a result, many girls in the school began a relentless campaign against her.
So why did it take so long to bring the charges? For starters, the area of cyberbullying law is a new area to law enforcement individuals. The criminal issue of cyberbullying only made the headlines recently, after a 2006 suicide of a girl, where a classmate's mom was responsible for posting hateful messages on MySpace.
The second issue for the prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and criminal defense attorneys is the issue of cooperation from the online social media sites. A good case requires evidence, yet New York law enforcement officers have indicated an "inexplicable lack of cooperation from Internet service providers."
We'll discuss the Phoebe Prince suicide charges in this blog as the case unfolds. But for now, New York criminal defense lawyers are watching-- and learning-- as Massachusetts lawyers have their hands full, defending seven girls. They have charges of criminal harassment, stalking, civil rights violations, and even assault by means of a dangerous weapon-- a can of Red Bull that was thrown at Prince as she walked home from school. Two boys have been charged with statutory rape.
Related Resources
- Cyberbullying Suicide: How Do You Protect Your Kids? (FindLaw's Law & Daily Life Blog)
- The 'MySpace Suicide' Case, Social Networking, and the Law (FindLaw's Common Law Blog)
- Find New York Criminal Defense Attorneys (FindLaw)
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