Mom: Online bullies now face punishment

? The mother of a girl who committed suicide at age 13 after being subjected to an Internet hoax says a woman’s conviction in the case shows that people who bully others online will face consequences.

Lori Drew, 49, of O’Fallon, Mo., was convicted Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles on misdemeanor charges of accessing computers without authorization.

Prosecutors said Drew and two others created a fictitious 16-year-old boy on MySpace and sent flirtatious messages from him to teenage neighbor Megan Meier. The “boy” dumped Megan in 2006, telling her: “The world would be a better place without you.”

Megan hanged herself with a belt in her bedroom closet.

Megan’s mother, Tina Meier, said in a telephone interview Friday that she’ll ask at sentencing that Drew serve the maximum penalty, three years in prison and a $300,000 fine.

She believes the verdict against Drew will lead to more action to prevent, and prosecute, bullying and harassment. “We all have to be able to understand if you do something wrong, you have to face the consequences,” Meier said.