Facebook Family Feud: Mom Snoops Online, Son Charges Harassment, So They'll See Each Other in Court
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CBS/AP) Parenting in the Facebook Age has come to this.
An Arkansas woman says she was just doing her due diligence as a mother when she logged onto her 16-year-old's Facebook page and read his posts, which she didn't like one bit -- so she changed his password, and locked him out.
The son liked that even less -- so naturally he accused his mom of harassment, prosecutors bought in, and now it's mother vs. son in a criminal case.
Can you say "un-friend?"
Denise New says her son forgot to log off of his Facebook page one day while using her computer so she took the opportunity to do a little snooping. New says the boy had written that he had gone to Hot Springs one night and drove 95 mph on the way home because he was upset with a girl. Several other posts on his site also bothered her, but she refused to elaborate.
Her son, Lane, who lives with his grandmother after mom's nasty divorce, did not appreciate Denise New's brand of mothering and filed a handwritten complaint with prosecutors, writing that "Denise first hacked my Facebook and changed my password. She also changed the password to my e-mail so I could not change it. She posted things that involve slander and personal facts about my life."The prosecutors sided with the teen, and approved the harassment charges against Denise New in March. Prosecutor Todd Turner refused to comment but did cite Arkansas' harassment law, that "a person commits the offense if he engages in conduct or repeatedly commits acts that alarm or seriously annoy another person."
Denise New says she plans to fight the charges saying if the suit is successful it will be "open season" on all vigilant parents who seek to keep their children in line.
For her Facebook adventure, she faces a judge May 12.
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK: Did mom commit a crime?