Cyberbullying Drove The Maryville Rape Victim To Attempt Suicide This Weekend

[Agschmid]

Daisy Coleman, the teenage girl at the center of the controversial Maryville rape case that came to light in October, has been hospitalized after attempting to take her own life on Sunday night. Her mother, Melinda, told a local Fox News affiliate that Daisy experienced an onslaught of cyberbullying after attending a party this past weekend.

Two years ago, 14-year-old Daisy was sexually assaulted by a member of Maryville’s high school football team and left semi-unconscious in her front yard in the middle of the night. The charges against Daisy’s alleged rapist were dropped, and the Coleman family became the subject of intense harassment and abuse. This past fall, after the Kansas City Star initially broke the details of the story, the Colemans gave several media interviews in an attempt to draw more attention to the inadequate criminal justice response to cases of sexual assault.

But in an interview with the Daily Mail published on Monday, Melinda Coleman explained that it hasn’t been easy for Daisy after going public. “She had been pretty good, when we were doing interviews and she felt like people were supporting her, and honestly being in bigger cities where people were more open-minded it was helping her a lot,” Coleman said. “When we got back here where we had to be quiet, it became really, really hard.”

According to her mother, Daisy briefly attended a party with friends on Friday night. When she returned home, she discovered she was being attacked on Facebook. Several high schoolers accused her of being a “hypocrite” and a “fake” for going to the party. Some told her she was a “slut and “wanted it.” That reportedly drove Daisy to attempt to overdose on pills on Sunday night. The teen is now in stable condition at a psychiatric hospital in Kansas City.

Full Article - Think Progress

This terrible, cyber bullying and stalking must have consequences for those who participate.

[KittyWampus]

1. Well, this is America and according to many DU'ers Free Speech is of paramount importance

It would be a slippery slope to say someone must face consequences for simply speaking/expressing themselves.

Note- I play Devil's Advocate on the issue of Free Speech on purpose because of tragedies such as this.

Many DU'ers will simply never get the hypocrisy or be honest about the issue of when the freedom of speaking crosses a line into harassment.

[Gravitycollapse]

2. Everyone who messaged her on Facebook should currently be in custody.

And should either be facing intensive inpatient therapeutic remedies or sentenced to juvenile detention or prison. Let's not fuck around with this kind of behavior. Nip it in the bud now.

[davidn3600]

3. And charge them with what?

Unless a person is making direct threats, there isn't really a whole lot you can do.

Laws concerning speech are very difficult to write in this country. There isn't much you can pass that would survive a constitutional challenge. The constitution paints an extremely broad brush when it comes to free speech. And the courts are very hesitant to draw lines beyond blatant threats of life and limb.

[Gravitycollapse]

4. Harassment and stalking. Have you not heard of such laws before?

Neither of which require a direct threat.

[davidn3600]

5. Then couldnt you also claim Zimmerman was cyberbullied?

He wasn't convicted of any crime. Yet most on the internet (including DU) call him a racist, a child-killer, and all sorts of insults. He's also gotten countless death threats...not a one has been prosecuted.

The internet can be a very cruel place. We can't put everyone in prison that sends an insult to someone online.

[Gravitycollapse]

6. Anyone who directly harasses Zimmerman is committing a criminal act, yes.

Which isn't a particularly mind-blowing revelation.

[BainsBane]

7. Here we see rape culture in action and just how lethal it is

Shaming victims and defending rapists is crucial to perpetuating rape culture. This is a civil rights issue and the Justice Department needs to start treating it as such. To continually refuse to prosecute rapists violates the civil rights of rape victims. The fact that 90% of those victims in civil society are women lead some to make an effort to publicly defend each and every rapist and make sure everyone knows the lives of women are inconsequential. That 3% of rapists end up serving jail for their crimes is too much for some to bear. So they devote themselves to making sure the world is safe for rapists to act with impunity. Cyber bullying is indeed illegal and people have been prosecuted for it. Death threats are illegal, yet when the victims are sexually assaulted women, some want to make sure those women suffer the most severe consequences for daring to report a crime against them. Here we see the face of the worst kind of evil our society produces. They not only try to make young girls to kill themselves, they work diligently to ensure no rapist is ever held accountable for his violent crimes.

[davidpdx]

8. +1

I'd recommend your post if I could.