Facebook Cyberstalking Shocker: Preteen Girls Charged In Issaquah Case

By Elaine Porterfield

(SEATTLE) - Two girls aged 11 and 12 were charged on Tuesday with first-degree computer trespassing and cyberstalking for allegedly posting sexually explicit photos and comments on the Facebook page of a 12-year-old classmate.

The two girls charged in the case also are accused of using the third girl's computer address to send out instant message solicitations for sex using her name.

The children involved are all middle-school classmates and live in the suburban city of Issaquah, east of Seattle.

The two accused offenders are believed to be the youngest individuals ever charged with cyberstalking and computer trespassing in King County, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the prosecutor's office.

One of them told investigators that she and the victim had been friends but had recently had a "falling out," according to charging documents filed in court. The documents said she gained access to the victim's Facebook account password during a visit while they were still friends.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a prepared statement that charges were brought against the two girls despite their young age because youngsters need to know that their Internet actions can have serious consequences.

If convicted as charged, each girl faces a sentence of up to 30 days in juvenile detention. The 12-year-old defendant will be arraigned in Juvenile Court on May 10.

The 11-year-old is due for a court scheduling conference on May 3 and faces a second proceeding, called a capacity hearing, on May 10, to determine whether she understands that her actions were wrong and was capable of committing a crime.

State law presumes that children aged 8 to 11 are not capable of committing crimes.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Bohan)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Comments

[scarletxoxoxo]

10:39 AM on 05/02/2011

That is messed up.

[Giorgio Teker]

07:23 AM on 05/01/2011

Children can commit crimes, and do. Consider child soldiers. Its our society that views children through rose-coloured lenses. Perhaps these girls did not consider the consequenses of their actions, but, really, how many law breakers do? However, to 'set an example' is not justice, its vengance. What would happen to you, or I, if we did this? That is what should happen to them. no more and no less.

[Jampa]

07:37 PM on 04/30/2011

The parents should also pay for raising such garbage that passes for children .

[dbrett480]

06:46 PM on 04/30/2011

As serious as this is, law enforcement probably shouldn't get involved due to the extremely young age. These girls need to understand the seriousness of their crimes, but it probably can be accomplished without the involvement of the criminal justice system.

[Chuck Dick]

12:09 AM on 04/29/2011

So you CAN commit a crime if you're 7?

[deepfreezevideo]

10:28 PM on 04/28/2011

As long as private for profit institutions are not involved I say "Carry on", because this is an important lesson, and behavior does have consequences. If it involves ANY for profit correctional facilities, CHANGE of VENUE.

[zelda777]

10:20 PM on 04/28/2011

What is wrong with a society that produces so many evil children???? This is completely unnatural, but is becoming more common all the time. What does the future hold for these junior psychopaths? What does this portend for the future when these kids become adults??? They must have had really lousy upbringings, and will probably perpetuate the problem by being very bad parents, themselves. Kids are committing suicide over stuff like this. Kids take guns to school and kill people.

WTF is going on???

[Guy451]

08:58 AM on 04/29/2011

It's nothing new. Kids have always been this mean. The difference between then and today is the wired expedited way we find out about it. Once upon a time a fight in the school yard was considered not news worthy. You go home. You're parents punish you, the world keeps turning. Today it's 9 o'clock news worthy. Kids aren't any meaner, we're just shining a flash light into that dark hallway.

[Katherine Hompes]

05:41 AM on 05/01/2011

15 years ago, the girls would have spread rumours around the schoolyard- now they use the internet. Technology may have changed, but the essential behaviour has not.

[freddsky]

05:39 PM on 04/28/2011

Thanks to modern technology, normal pre-teen behavior has now assumed a moral enormity well beyond its intent. How long before gossip becomes a felony?

[mutton]

09:15 PM on 04/28/2011

So you're saying that publishing sexually explicit photos and comments under someone else's name in an attempt to defame them is normal pre-teen behavior and shouldn't be considered a crime. You must know different kids than I do.

[Angelaaaa]

10:19 PM on 04/28/2011

No, I think what he is saying is that technology is giving obnoxious kids that have always existed, the ability to do things that our generation couldn't. We probably weren't any nicer, we just didn't have the opportunity. Nor was the bullying and victimhood enshrined forever. We were all given the luxury of growing up in relative anonymity.

Whether this is "normal" pre-teen behavior is a separate issue. I don't believe it is - it is clearly really nasty bullying. But there were really nasty bullies in our day too and I have no doubt, if they could have done this stuff, they would have. I have no problem with this matter being escalated to a law/order level. At the very least, it will give several sets of parents some really tough questions to ask themselves.

[freddsky]

12:53 AM on 04/29/2011

Being a stupid kid is no more of a crime than it always was. It's been a while since I was in school. We had no cell phones, but we gossiped about each other and passed notes. We stole locker combinations and spread false rumors about sex and pregnancy. If our notes and snideness had been sprayed all over the internet, some of my classmates would still be wearing orange jump suits. It is a lot easier to paint a bathroom wall than it is to erase something from the web. Fewer people have time to get hysterical about what was written there.

[AbstractImp]

05:33 PM on 04/28/2011

The Get-a-life crowd gets younger.

[KennebunkportIndependent]

05:07 PM on 04/28/2011

Does the world really need Facebook?  I know I don't.

Be that as it may, aren't FB account holders meant to be at least 13, or have parental permission to create an account?  Where are the parents of these tiny tot terrorists in all this brouhaha???  Perhaps ALL accounts should be verified via a credit card, just as you have to do to have your mail forwarded.  Keep the littlies away.  FB isn't a child's playground.

[Jampa]

07:38 PM on 04/30/2011

No it doesn't need facebook.

[Coneja]

04:50 PM on 04/28/2011

Yup. These girls need to learn a lesson. They need to feel the heat of the law because they've earned it.

[linton]

04:44 PM on 04/28/2011

As a parent, I wonder why some parents let their young kids, especially the pre-teen ones have access to Facebook and other social media accounts? My kids are under 10, bookmarked sites on their computers are the only sites they are allowed to go to. I use k9 web protection and additionally block sites on the router. It works fine, they complain sometimes but I don't care.

[pammiethekid]

04:38 PM on 04/28/2011

My grandson got online and ordered a digital camera when he was five. Took him moments, literally. The company sent my daughter an email saying they had received her order, but needed her credit card number. She looked over her shoulder at her son, who said simply, "I needed it."
No harm done, but this is what young parents face now, kids who are computer savvy sooner than they are social-savvy. Add a mean streak and thinking it's okay to do harm, and things can really get out of hand.
You have to watch them online without them knowing that you are watching them online, and unless you lock them up in the house, they will find a way to get on there.

[phoebequeen]

04:22 PM on 04/28/2011

I think they should serve some time. What they did was very dangerous and just wrong. Kids used to just spread rumors about someone. Now, the rumors go global and it's permanent. Maybe it will keep their peers from doing the same.

[Pagoas]

04:17 PM on 04/28/2011

there is nothing more scary than a pre-teen girl. i'd rather go ghosthunting for sasquatch chupachabra shadowpeople babies during a hail-riddled storm while tornado sirens are blaring than be around one.

[insidious]

09:06 PM on 04/28/2011

LMAO!