In the follow-up to the disturbing story of Megan Meier, Fox has now covered the story and like the local paper has decided not to disclose the identity of the woman who faked the identity of a cute boy named Josh to develop a friendship with her — only to crush her in a series of messages. After developing a crush on the boy, the woman allegedly sent such messages as “Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat.” The responsible mother was reportedly upset with how Megan was treating her daughter. The two families were friends and neighbors. The boy dumped her and Megan committed suicide. There remains no charges, and even more strangely no lawsuit. It is not clear why Fox is timid in publishing the names of the parents. They are involved in a very public dispute with highly disturbing allegations. There is no reason in torts that the newspaper would be charged with publishing the names. They sent these messages to a third party and have no privacy expectations in the messages. They have also been involved in later criminal actions against the father of Megan.Civil charges could range for negligence to child endangerment to intentional infliction of emotional distress. It is not that such allegations would be easy. They would be novel. However, the idea that these adults could engage in such horrific conduct without legal recourse is equally horrific. Megan’s parents are seeking a divorce. The father has a pending criminal charge from destroying the lawn of the other family. Such property destruction occurs when people have no legal outlet for their pain and desire for justice. It does not excuse the father but it raises questions about the response of the legal system to such conduct against a child.Even in the absence of legal action, the question is the duty of the media not to self-censure and withhold a key piece of information from this community: the names of the alleged culprits. For a prior blog entry, click hereFor the Fox story, click here For the CNN story, click here