Teen bully ordered to delete Facebook

A judge has ordered a teenager to delete her Facebook accounts after she sent harmful messages to a schoolgirl who later died in a suspected suicide.

The teen, who has statutory name suppression because of her age, has met with the victim’s family and apologised.

The dead girl’s mother says she has forgiven the teenager and has only pity for her.

The teenager is one of the youngest people to be charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act since it came into effect in mid-2015.

She had put harmful posts on Facebook about 13-year-old Villa Maria College student Chelsea O’Byrne, who died in a suspected suicide in August last year.

Chelsea suffered from mental health issues, a relative had recently died, and she was receiving counselling in the months leading up to her death. The teenager sent the messages several days before Chelsea’s death.

Chelsea’s mother said meeting the teenager at a family group conference was a healing experience, and not what she expected.

‘‘It’s helped me move forward,’’ she said. ‘‘I just felt sorry for her. All the people there for her were professionals, not her loved ones. It’s pretty sad.

‘‘At the end of the day it’s given me closure, I wasn’t expecting it, but it did. I wasn’t expecting to forgive her, but forgiving sets you free.’’

The teenager, understood to be 16 at the time of offending, appeared in the Christchurch Youth Court on Tuesday to discuss her progress with the judge.

She had admitted one count of causing harm by posting a digital communication as well as two unrelated charges of assault and one of threatening to kill.

One charge of assaulting her mother was withdrawn on Tuesday.

Judge Jane McMeeken ordered the youth, who has been in Oranga Tamariki care, to delete her Facebook accounts. The teen has started her 40 hours of community work and must attend support programmes for drug and alcohol abuse. ‘‘You can’t change what has happened in the past, but you can make the rest of your life positive,’’ Judge McMeeken told the youth.

Chelsea’s mother said police told her the offender was the youngest person charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.

The Act came into force in July 2015, allowing civil and criminal action to be taken against harmful online behaviour.

Eighty-four people were convicted of offences under the act to the end of 2017. Of those, 12 were aged 19 or younger.

Chelsea’s mother said there was little support for families who had lost their loved ones to suicide. She has reached out to fellow bereaved mothers to start a community of support.

Netsafe chief executive Martin Cocker said the case was ‘‘a reminder that these online disputes and abuse and harassment can lead to real harm and irreversible consequences’’.

He said if users were not concerned about breaking the law, they should be concerned about the real harm of their public posts.

The coroner is yet to hold an inquest into Chelsea’s death.