Woman charged with harassment over phony Craigslist post

Remember Lori Drew, the "MySpace Mom" who created a phony account for a teenage boy on the aforementioned social network and ended up goading a teenager into committing suicide after leading her to believe that the boy hated her? Well, the fallout from that case continues, as another woman old enough to know better has found herself on the wrong side of the law following a somewhat similar incident.

40-year-old Elizabeth Thrasher is the first person arrested under new Missouri "cyberbullying" laws, following the posting of pictures, the email address, and cell phone number of a 17-year-old girl on Craigslist, where she claimed she was looking for a sexual rendezvous. The girl -- as you'd expect -- received numerous lewd come-ons. After she called the cops, Thrasher also received something: A trip to jail.

Thrasher was freed on $10,000 bond but is now preliminarily barred from having a computer or internet access in her home pending her trial.

Thrasher's motives are unclear, but the girl in question is allegedly the daughter of her ex-husband's new girlfriend, so a revenge plot is a bit obvious here. The girlfriend and Thrasher had allegedly been arguing for some time, thus the escalation and retaliation.

Regardless of whether she thought her actions to be in the right, such behavior is now against the law in Missouri, and if convicted, she could face up to four years in state prison, a year in county jail, or a $5,000 fine. The law is specifically designed to product those under 18 from the online antics of those 21 and older. And while misdemeanor cases have been filed since the Drew case, Thrasher's is the first felony issue to come before the courts.

How will this turn out? Tough to say.

More news as it develops.