Drew's trial rescheduled for October
She is to stay off the Internet until then
According to court records, Drew agreed June 16 to forego Internet access and promised the court she would not participate in any networking services, such as MySpace, without first obtaining approval from the court's pretrial services branch. She consented to having her person and property searched to ensure compliance.
"Basically, it's no Internet," she said Thursday evening at her home, which had a "for sale" sign in the front yard. She said there has been interest in the home and declined to comment on the case.In addition, according to court records, Drew needs approval to travel beyond Missouri and Illinois. She is allowed to travel to California for court appearances. She told the court she does not have a passport and promised not to obtain one, according to court records available online.
Drew, 49, of Dardenne Prairie faces three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization and one count of conspiracy. Prosecutors allege she defrauded MySpace by violating the company's Terms of Service when she used false information to create a MySpace account for a fictitious boy named Josh Evans.
Drew faces up to 20 years in prison. Her attorney has said that if he does his job properly she won't spend a day in prison.
The case is a landmark prosecution. It marks the first time a prosecutor has used the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to accuse someone of breaking the law in accessing a social network's servers. The MySpace servers are in Beverly Hills, near Los Angeles.
Drew was involved in creating a MySpace page for Josh Evans, a handsome 16-year-old who did not exist. She participated in order to find out if 13-year-old Megan Meier, who lived down the street, was saying mean things about her daughter.
Also involved in creating the Josh Evans page were Drew's daughter and Ashley Grills, a then-18-year-old employee who worked in Drew's home, helping with Drew's at-home business. Only Lori Drew has been charged.
Josh quickly sought out Megan as a MySpace friend, and the two flirted for several weeks before Josh suddenly turned mean and Megan hanged herself on Oct. 16, 2006.
Drew has denied sending messages to Megan as Josh and has said she was not home when Megan hanged herself. The girl, who had a history of depression, died the next day.
Both Jack Banas, the St. Charles County prosecuting attorney, and the office of Catherine Hanaway, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, reviewed the case and did not file criminal charges.
Banas said existing state law did not cover the facts of this particular case. Since then, the Missouri Legislature has passed a new cyber harassment law, which was signed this month in O'Fallon by Gov. Matt Blunt.
Drew's trial is expected to last five days, according to court documents.
