Money Matters, Simplified.
16-year-old sues mother for hacking Facebook account
by Priyanka - April 9, 2010 - comments
"The things he was posting in Facebook would make any decent parent's eyes pop out and his jaw drop. He had been warned before about things he had been posting,” said Denise.
A 16-year-old teenager, Lane New, from Arkansas, has sued his mother Denise New for allegedly hacking into his account on social networking website Facebook account, changing the password to keep him out and also posting insulting comments.
"Denise first hacked my Facebook and changed my password. She also changed the password to my email so I could not change it. She posted things that involve slander and personal facts about my life," said Lane in his complaint, according to Associated Press report.
Lane filed his complaint in the Clark County Prosecutor's Office and on March 26.
However, teenager’s mother Denise said that she did nothing wrong by taking such an action after finding some ‘disturbing’ content posted on her son’s accounts.
"You're within your legal rights to monitor your child,” said Denise in her defense in an interview.
Denise has been asked to be present at the Clark County Courthouse on May 12 for the hearing.
Reason behind Denise’s decision
According to Denise New, she did not hack into her son’s Facebook account, on the contrary, Lane had left his account open on her computer.
She was about to log him out when she spotted a entry where Lane had posted that he had driven home one night at the speed of 95mph just because he was mad at some girl. Denise reportedly admitted that after reading the message she changed the password as any other responsible and concerned parent will do.
"You're within your legal rights to monitor your child,” said Denise
"The things he was posting in Facebook would make any decent parent's eyes pop out and his jaw drop. He had been warned before about things he had been posting,” said Denise.
"I probably made maybe three, maybe four actual postings — the rest of it was a conversation between my son, me and his personal friends," added Denise.
Denise also said that before this incident she shared a cordial relation with her son who started living with his grandmother after she had tough time coping with her divorce five-years back. At the time she did not think that she would be able to take responsibility of Lane.
Officials stance on the whole issue
The prosecutor Todd Turner was contacted with the request to comment on the issue but he denied the request.
Later the prosecutor’s office released a statement, “The misdemeanor charge in this case is based solely on allegations about the content of certain statements by the accused. The fact that the accused allegedly made these statements on a social network computer site does not affect the nature of the charge and is not relevant to the charge.”